Can't hide, no where to run
by DBack47
Summary: Ghost portal are not built secretly in basements by mad scientists. They are built by large and powerful corporations with lots of attention from lots of people. Likewise, a ghost hybrid is not created so quietly either.
1. The office

AUTHOR'S NOTE: _Yeah I know there are a trillion and one of these out there but for my own satisfaction and to meet my monthly quota, try to read and review. I suggest you anticipate anything…I am not the top notch writer. _

"Dad, um…can I catch the bus home or something…please?"

"Nonsense Danny Boy! You gotta wait till afternoon till the fun begins, this is going to be great! You just watch when the daily reports from the labs come in, then…you can pitch in a give them typing skills a spin eh?"

Danny shut his eyes and let out a deep breath, attempting to convince himself that he was happy to be at Dad's work place for the fourteenth year straight

"Alright Danny, so you want to go down with the other kids, I heard they have some clay to shape up…sound fun?"

"Dad, I think that your cubicle is a lot more fun than clay with a bunch of fifth graders, not everybody here brings their 14 year old son to 'bring your child to work day'"

"Oh nonsense Danny, I know my co-worker Jim still brings his kid here everyday"

"But that's because your co-worker's son works here!"

Jack seemed to ignore Danny's comment to stop by the small kitchenette and help himself to whatever was in the fridge. Danny sat down in one of the chairs, bored as he watched one of his Dad's co-workers arrive and begin conversing with the large man. Long ago had the charm of 'bring your child to work day' died and now it was a yearly chore. Be dragged by Dad to Axiom labs to sit in a cubicle for 8 hours and then leave. As cool as Danny's classmates thought it was that his Dad worked at the famous Axiom labs, Danny would have traded going there for anything. Well…that is if he hadn't been coming to Axiom labs for all 15 years of his life. In fact, Danny probably knew almost all of Dad's co-workers far more than he would have liked, and knew his way around his Dad's office a lot better than some of the workers at the labs. In short, Danny was tired of coming to the Labs every year, he had seen the place, done the activities, and would of rather been jamming his thumbs on a game controller than listen to his Dad talk about the newest reports to his pal

Danny might have been more interested in coming had he been tagging alone with his mother. But that was something that none of the kids who came there got to do. Axiom Labs was a massive complex, his Dad's office only dealing with the more menial tasks of the organization. The Labs were known far and wide as a developer of cutting edge technologies and researcher into strange new fields, the pride and joy of the entire city of Amity Park. However, much of what the labs did was secret and behind closed doors, such as where his mother worked; in the most secret and bizarre section of the Labs of all, the paranormal division.

Axiom Labs was the top and only large Laboratory in the nation that actively researched the paranormal. But that was the only thing that was clear, everything else was out of sight behind massive doors marked 'no admittance' and 'authorized personal only'. It had long been a subject of curiosity for the cobalt haired blue eyed Fenton, but whatever went on where his mother worked was closed to even his Dad's ears.

"Come on Danny, time to hit the keyboard! I'll be at my cubicle if you want me, you know your way right?"

Danny gave his Dad a grunt in reply. His Dad, still looking sharp in his dress shirt and tie despite his size, bounded away to his computer, leaving Danny alone, at the small cheap table, staring at the magnets on the fridge

The air conditioner roared on, rattling a vent above Danny's head. The sink dripped slowly, a quiet drip drop that began to gnaw at Danny's brain. The clock on the wall ticked, agonizingly slow. It was clear that when Danny began to her every noise in the room that he was bored. Lunch was an hour away, nothing left to do but either go over to his Dad's cubicle and watch as Dad cheerily typed away some miscellaneous report.

The summer had been fairly uneventful. The family had to Wisconsin to see some relatives, and Jazz had taken a trip to a university, but besides that, summer had consisted of fiddling with a gaming system with Tucker Foley, Danny's best friend, or hanging out with Sam Manson, which Danny felt an increasing urge to spend more time with. Even though she might…

The clatter of keys on a keyboard and the squeak of a chair whispered through the quiet office space to Danny's ears. An echo of chattering and the ring of a telephone added to the hushed cacophony of sounds that were Danny's only source of intrigue. There was nothing quite like being in an office building. Whether that was a good or bad thing was Danny's question.

With school fast approaching, these were the days that Danny cherished. Those last days of looking back on the summer and remembering the countless hours of bliss spent entertaining his self. The good and bad now replayed through Danny's half lidded eyes as he lazily sat.

_Danny panted as his legs continued to pump harder, pushing the device faster. _

"_Danny, wait up dude, you're going to run over a kid or something!" Tucker shouted as he furiously attempted to close the distance of his bicycle with Danny's. _

_Good old Tucker, Danny had known him for as long as he could remember. From a different perspective, they seemed the most unlikely of friends, but Danny and Tucker's friendship was deeper than just a childhood relationship. The two boys seemed to have a part of themselves in one another. They cried together, got sick together, and even in the tough times, somehow always found a way to talk to one another. _

_Tucker's red beret flew off as he yelped and ducked beneath a tree branch which he narrowly missed. "DANNY" Tucker whined "Wait up my hat!" _

"_We won't get to electronic world on time!" Danny shouted as he slammed on the bike's brakes. "What about the new PDA that you wanted?"_

_The techno geek looked back at Danny with what could only be described as hungry eyes "um…oh what the heck forget the hat, keep going!"_

Danny sighed as he recalled Tucker's franticness when he returned to the spot and found his hat gone. Danny always kind of liked Tucker without his hat but old habits die hard and the search for the hat lasted well into the evening. By the time the very soiled and battered red beret had been found, Danny had also found two very angry and worried parents as well. Thankfully, Tucker stayed to help pacify the situation. But still Danny had been in hot water.

Danny chuckled softly as another scene came to mind, but this time involving Samatha Manson, the secret center of Danny's admiration

"_LEFT! LEFT, we can't let her beat us!"_ _Danny shouted almost hysterically as water splashed and Tucker and Danny frantically paddled to the left._

"_GUYS! We're all going to end up in the river if you keep attempting to cut me off!" Sam shouted from her black kayak. She made a hard turn as Danny and Tucker clipped the kayak with their canoe, the splash from their sloppy paddling drenching the Goth in a shower of murky river water. _

"_IDIOTS! Mom is going freak when she sees my pants! When I get my hands on you two!" Sam's glare, black with irritation, was enough to make both of the boys gulp. _

"_Faster Tucker, Faster!" Danny's frantic words were not necessary as Tucker began to paddle faster than before, churning up the water into foam. "I'm paddling as fast as I can" came Tucker's reply as the canoe rocketed downstream. Tucker looked back to see Sam still closing the lead they had just gotten, whirling her kayak paddle back and forth as she pushed herself. Both Tucker and Danny knew that she could easily outrun them both when she wanted too. _

"_BRIDGE!" Danny's shout brought Tucker's view ahead to a low bridge that loomed just downstream. "RiGht Danny, give it all you got" Tucker shouted back as both of them attempted to avoid one of the bridge supports. A few moments later with a terrible shriek of the canoe, Danny and Tucker were unhappily wedged between a tree branch in the river and the bridge support. Both of them looked back, their faces blossoming with alarm as they watched Sam bear down on them with an evil smile on her face. _

_Later that day, Tucker and Danny swore never to go canoeing with Sam again as they came back to Tucker's house, drenched from head to toe with dirty water and river mud…compliments of Sam's revenge for getting her wet. _

Danny could only laugh heartly now as he recalled the comical scene. It had been totally worth it!

The clock ticked on as Danny continued to reminisce about his summer memories. Little did the fifteen year old know that his time for freedom was running out `


	2. The scientist

"Boxesssss T-theey arre minnne…BEWARRE!"

Maddie Fenton looked on, transfixed as she watched the ghost drift through the containment chamber. It was very similar looking to a thick mist that was blue colored, a shaped cloud of energy that wisped and faintly phased in and out of the visible spectrum. Small tendrils of energy seemed to roll off its sides and dissipate into the room. It form was almost fuzzy and translucent and reminiscent of a warehouse worker, overalls and a work hat that was perched precariously on it 'head'. In many ways, it was too strange to seem real, almost as if looking at some special effect out of a movie. However, the apparition was terrifyingly real, nothing phony in the whispering form that produced a strange hum.

Every once in a while, the ghost would begin to drift like a small balloon, the somewhat tangible arms vaguely twisting and moving as if the ghostly specter was an astronaut in space. It was so un-real, so nearly unbelievable, but Maddie Fenton knew better than to doubt the existence of the specter. Such actions had lead her to near disaster the first time she had actually seen a ghost.

"Nothing in life is to be feared, only understood…Madame Curie" she faintly murmured to herself. Something in her brain was alarmed as the ghost emitted an echoing moan that sent a shivering chill through her brain. It was proven that ghosts do not actually make noise but sent something of telepathic waves for all to hear. The creepy echo of the noise was really just her brain interpreting the communication of the ghost, not her ears actually hearing the sound. Such knowledge only made the ghost more unearthly. The way its form, a collection of energy that seemed unable to stabilize, sifted in and out of what her human eyes could see only reinforced the unearthly aspects of it.

"fascinating isn't it? You always seem to stop her Maddie" she swiveled her head to see that her supervisor Jim Foley had sidled up to her.

"Sorry Jim…just it's so fascinating too…never mind." She shook her head for a moment and gave Jim her full attention. "So how's Tucker? Did he get over that cold he had?"

Jim only nodded, his gaze still fixed on the Box ghost through the thick viewing glass. "He's fine; Danny must have apologized a dozen times"

She chuckled softly "I never could get it through Danny's head that it wasn't his fault Tucker got sick after sitting in the lake too long" She shook her head in self-agreement "No, Danny is much too apologetic for his own good"

A sudden buzz of energy brought both of the scientists' attention back to the viewing glass, to see the box ghost grinning.

"B-Bewaaare!, fear the wrath of the boxesssss!" The ghost's form seemed to solidify, becoming more corporal as it began to glow with an un-earthly light. The ghost's aura grew in size and room darkened as reality itself seemed to shudder in complaint. Energy, real and powerful, began to cascade off the ghost and reached across the room. Barely visible tendrils of energy curled around a few boxes that had been scattered throughout the room for the ghost and were shaken violently. They lifted off the ground of their own accord and glowed with the same colored energy as the ghost contained, vibrating as they levitated in the air.

"HAHAHAHA!" The Box ghost roared a single, terrifying laugh that sent chills racing up and down the spines of the humans. It was so un-earthly and unnatural, not to mention ominous and fear inspiring. Both Jim and Maddie felt something extremely deep within them stir and be pulled towards the ghost, their souls being warped and drained of emotions.

**ZAP! **The room lit up like a strobe light as two safety probes on the wall discharged thousands of volts, the electricity cackling across the small containment room to curl around the ghost and explode in a display of sparks.

Jim and Maddie placed their hands on their ears and barred their teeth as the ghost emitted a horrific howl that shook the building and rattled the glass, the lights flickering on and off, the room temperature dropping significantly and the air itself moving faintly through the room.

The box ghost's form was for a moment, lit up brightly as he was soundly electrocuted, then flickered and began to lose its solidity. The ghost fell to the floor, expression contorted in a face of agony, his body fuzzy and hard to define as it fell to the floor, even as his beloved boxes clattered to the floor as well, looking no better for the wear.

"B-boxes" The ghost whispered, barely audible, as it curled up into a ball on the floor before vanishing completely from sight, only a flickering outline marking its location.

Maddie looked over to a computer terminal on the left side of the viewing glass. "fell from a 4.2 to a 1.9…seems though electricity at a ten-thousand volts does the trick" She looked at the viewing glass, fascinated as she looked at the ghost's outline "This is why I signed up for this job…Jim, when will you be testing the project?"

Jim was backing towards the door, face drained of color "I don't know how you can stand that Maddie…cause it's not natural at all, but the project will be undergoing a dry run in an hour but we commenced warming up the equipment almost 30 minutes ago, and we are running simulations on the computer right now, simulations A4 through DX3"

Maddie smiled "Thanks Jim, just asking cause I want Danny to see" Jim nodded in response "Of course Maddie, you have been asking if Danny could see for months, should be no problem…alright, gotta run!"

Maddie smiled as Jim strode away, still a little on edge from the display of the Box Ghost, pulling out a PDA and fiddling with it. Maddie liked Jim…and his son Tucker, they were more similar than they both would like to think. She looked back at the ghost, the symbolism of all her studies and labors at Axiom labs. She was fascinated, ultimately transfixed by the concept that there were creatures composed of pure energy that inhabited the world, malevolent and mysterious, untamed and dangerous. Perhaps her fascination with ghosts had to do with the fact that her upbringing had been in Amity Park, the most haunted city in the nation.

Research had shown that the city was truly a hot spot for ghost sightings, more ghosts were seen by more people than any other city in the world. The reason for this lay in a theory that was only mathematically proven; the theory that there was an entirely different dimension for ghosts, and that Amity Park was in an area where the line between this 'ghost zone' and the real world was very thin with rifts and tears allowing ghosts to drift through. Most of the ghosts were invisible, ranking a 1 and below on the specto energy scale, that were almost harmless. However they caused the most damage of all, for they were the ghosts that actually would come to people's houses, open doors, terrify residents, make bumps in the night, and generally giving the residents nightmares for weeks.

Next there were more tangible ghosts that actually could hold something of a corporal form, the ones that could possess a human, make an apparition of a dead person, and in extreme cases, attack a victim with lethal force. They caused the most amount of damage and generally were the most common targets that the **G**host **I**nvestigation and **W**eapons force had to deal with, or the otherwise, the GIW which was jokingly nicknamed the Guys in white as a spoof off the men in black, had to deal with. Those specters rated a 2 and above on the specto energy scale.

Finally there were ghosts such as the Box Ghost who rated from a high 3 on the specto energy scale to a low 2. They were actually less harmless most of the time, only to cause a ruckus every once in a while, but were more often seen as cases for study at Axiom labs. Maddie had almost an affection for these ghosts, actually attempting a intelligent conversation with them, even though their ability to communicate back was limited.

Mathematically, it was possible to have a class 10 ghost, although the most powerful ghost with a recorded sighting was estimated to be a low 6. Such ghosts, only theoretically possible, were considered threats on par with terrorists. The only facts about such powerful ghosts came from urban myths and legends and there had been no actual documentation of such creatures. However, just the fact that they could be out there is what drove Maddie crazy, and what had driven the 'project' from Maddie's dreams to a reality.

Years ago, Maddie and her husband Jack had began a private endeavor to construct an inter-dimensional portal that would be able to access the ghost zone, if there was one. A few years prior, Maddie had written a paper on her project, which ended after the Jack saw the necessary funding for such a project, and submitted it to the executive board at Axiom labs. They were thoroughly impressed by the concept and had funded it, albeit the funding had been stringent.

So it had become a reality, under the supervision of Jim and with an equally brilliant team of scientists, the portal, after much toil, had been constructed. She would see it operate for the first time on that very day, with her son.

"_Hey mom…can I see what is behind that big shiny door? Please!"_

_Maddie looked down at her 10 year old son that looked up at her with buoyant blue eyes that sparkled and were filled with that youthful energy_

_She sadly looked back down "Sorry Danny, but there is are monsters behind that door, and I don't want you to be scared okay?" _

_He pouted "Aww Mom, but I'm bored with Dad at his cube, I want to see what you do!"_

_She stroked his black hair "Well, when your older, I promise okay?"_

_Danny looked back up with askance eyes "Promise?"_

_Maddie grabbed his hand and squeezed it "promise Danny" _

Danny had always wanted to see what she had done, what her work was, but Maddie had a contract, her work was of the utmost secrecy. The military potential of a ghost as a living weapon were endless if the rumors about more powerful ones were true, so Maddie worked in secret, and behind closed doors. But she had asked her superiors, signed the papers, and Danny was finally going to be able to see her pride and joy.

Maddie was grinning ear to ear as she left the viewing room and strode towards the office wing of Axiom labs, eager to show her son what she had wrought.

As she strode down the hall, a clock ticked close the ceiling, each tick a second less to the point where Maddie would question who or what her son was.


	3. First encounter

If Danny though he could have felt more awkward during bring your child to work day, he was sadly mistaken. If coming into Axiom labs with a bunch of little kids, all of them a good half a decade younger than him, and sitting in a cubical farm with nothing but your Dad occupied, was Danny's worst imagined case of awkwardness, he now needed to expand his imagination. Because now, he was standing, donned in a tight spandex suit of primarily white with black gloves and boots, looking like a idiot amidst geniuses who were working on high tech computer consoles around him, with his mom looking more proud than Danny felt was necessary. Yes…Danny had never felt more awkward than ever before.

The ironic thing was, that Danny had asked to do this for years. For years he had pleaded with his mother to bring him to where she worked. He had gotten his wish, and now wished that he had never thought seeing his mom's work would have been cool.

"Well Danny, you happy? You got your wish, here's the heart and soul of Axiom labs" Maddie said to Danny in that almost fawning tone that Danny hated.

Danny tried to hunch over more and kept his eyes locked firmly on the floor tiles. "Yeah Mom…this is…is just great, I am dressed in something fit for Halloween and standing among people who could probably do advanced calculus equations while typing a thesis paper while I struggle with trying to do trigonometry with a calculator. Yeah, I feel great"

Maddie softly elbowed her son and gave him a glare "Danny, enjoy this, this is a privilege, not some chore, and besides, I think you look fine in the radiation suit"

Danny gave a sigh as he wrenched his eyes off the floor and examined his surroundings. The long hallway was covered from wall to ceiling with monitors, computer terminals and flashing lights, as well as the occasional door marked "danger". Laboratory workers, almost all of them wearing similar spandex suits, hurried about. A murmur of voices echoed nosily down the hallway, drowned by a steady hum of high powered equipment.

Barely 10 minutes ago, Danny had been awoken at his father's cubicle by his mother. That should have alerted him that something was up, considering that in all of his 15 years of coming, even when he was barely a year of age as a baby, his mother had rarely stopped by to visit Danny in the cubicle. However, Danny had simply let his mother drag him along, being complacent even when his mother took his fingerprint on a device, had him take a picture and sign a form that stated the security measures of the complex, not even when his mother came to famous metal door that separated the deep workings of the laboratory from the more menial tasks of Axiom labs did Danny begin to suspect that his mother was going to fulfill his childhood dream of seeing her work. But when Danny had seen the spandex suit that she wanted him to wear…

"Mom, will you tell me again why I have to wear this suit that is out of a movie or something?"

"Danny, what do you expect, this is a high hazard environment where we deal regularly with different forms of radiation, whether non-ethereal or ethereal. Without the suit, side effects are possible, why do you thing everyone else here is wearing one?"

"Cause we are secretly in some cheap movie from the 60's?" Danny sarcastically muttered, only to receive another chiding elbow.

"Danny be polite, oh its Jim! Danny meet…"

"Mr. Foley? You work here too?"

"Hello Maddie, hey Danny, so you finally did it Maddie, snuck your son behind the scenes?"

Maddie put her arm around Danny and beamed while Danny gave a phony smile and blushed, somewhat embarrassed

"Yep, he was always asking to poke his nose around her although someone should be a bit more appreciative of coming"

"Yes mother, whatever you say" Danny said in a dry tone of voice

Jim snorted in amusement "Don't worry Danny, this should be your only time back here, and it's not as dull as the cubicles I promise you"

"Thanks Mr. Foley, I'm just a bit uncomfortable with it all, that's it"

Jim nodded and then turned to Maddie "So you want to give Danny the grand tour? Sandra up top says you have an hour free time to show Danny whatever you want"

"Don't worry Jim, Danny is going to see every hole and corner in Axiom labs by the time we're done with this place"

Danny felt the impulse to roll his eyes but instead stared at a wall, thinking about Sam. "Sure Mom, whatever you say"

-…-…-…-…-…-…

It didn't turn out so bad after all, Danny thought to himself an hour later. It turned out that Axiom labs was far more interesting than he had imagined and he found that he was enjoying himself a lot. Most workers ignored him but the ones his mother did meet with Danny were friendly, although a few of the women acted a little cold. But besides the people he met, Axiom Labs was an amazing place, with several different departments.

The robotics department had been the most fascinating to Danny as his mother's coworkers showed off the latest in robotic development, with a strange suit meant to enhance the physical abilities of a person. The weapons department was just as interesting, with Maddie personally showing Danny some of the guns that she helped to engineer, which she affectionately had named after the Fenton family, much to the amusement of Danny when his mother showed him a baseball bat. The only difference between a regular bat was the Fenton name stamped on the side.

Lunch had been good, even if some of the food seemed to glow slightly, which several of his mom's coworkers had laughed about when Danny asked why. Some inside joke work place humor he supposed. Though Danny felt a little strange walking around, it was still a bit better than sharing the place with a bunch of little kids. And some of the things that Danny saw were genuinely fascinating.

Much later that afternoon, his Mom had gotten back to work at some desk filling out paper work, and had left Danny to his own devices, under the restriction that he had to return by 3 o'clock. He now was wandering through the vast halls of the labs, simply enjoying watching as workers bustled to and fro working on countless experiments and papers.

And so this is how Danny ended up, finding himself in front of a steel door marked "**authorized personal only, jumpsuit must be donned at all times**".

Interest raced through Danny's mind as he looked at the door. Should he pass or not, and it wasn't as if his mother hadn't said there wasn't anything wrong with exploring the entire labs, plus his time was almost up, a clock behind Danny indicated the time as quarter to three.

The door gave a soft whine as he silently swung it open, only to find…

"A empty hallway? Seems like there would be something more interesting back here." Danny spoke to no-one in particular.

"Hello…anyone down this way?"

No response. Danny shrugged and shuffled down the restricted corridor, leaving the door to swing back shut behind him.

The squeak of his black boots was the only sound as Danny walked down the hallway, along with the hum of some equipment buried deep within the building. The hallway was as plain as possible save a series of metal doors on each side with a marked letter designation with some odd initials.

"D47.2 AB, D52.15 BD, I wonder what these would classify?" Danny's eye was caught by a door with a large file taped to the front of it marked, **Maddie Fenton**"

"Mom?" Danny gently thrust the door open, to find…

It was a small observation room, reminding Danny of something that one would see at a zoo, with a small computer to the side, file cabinet, and a large viewing glass on one wall with a few controls on the wall below it. Danny suddenly felt uncomfortable, an inexplicable shiver that sailed through his body and seemed to lower the temperature instantly. However, the feeling only served to increase Danny's curiosity.

Danny walked forward in anticipation of what he might see through the glass only to see…

An empty, metal room. "Huh?" Danny rapped the glass. Must be empty Danny thought to himself, before something shimmered into view behind the glass.

"BOOO! AHAHAHAH!"

Danny shrieked and ungracefully landed on his rear. When he raised his eyes, he was startled to see a ghost. But he did not only see the ghost, something in his body was revolted at the mere presence of it, his entire being wishing to escape from the room, which had taken on a eerie blue tint. Danny looked through the glass and beheld a strange, shimmering man, his visible form seeming to pulse with other-dimensional power.

"Bewarre…B-boxes will have their r-revenge! T-Tremble in f-f-fear at the power of them!"

The ghost waved his arms and the atmosphere seemed to be energized from his form. At this point, Danny was about ready to scream and split. The shock of seeming something appear from nothing practically in front of him was bad enough, and the fact that the creature seemed to be anything but of this earth was enough to make Danny back away.

The blue ghost, grinned a Cheshire cat grin, and lifted his hands, his aura spreading out, the tendrils of energy seeming to extend from him to fill the entire containment room. Danny felt his breath being held, sweat beginning to form on his forehead. Though the creature was divided from him by thick viewing glass, Danny felt as defenseless as a mouse is to a cat. However, he released his pent up breath, and tried to regain control of his brain. He realized that the creature, apparently a ghost, was not quite as terrifying as Danny's imagination had made him out to be. Once you got past the ethereal blue aura and his transparent form, the ghost was just a man donned in overalls and a small warehouse cap. However, his expression and appearance together made him the scariest thing Danny had ever seen firsthand.

The ghost seemed to almost drink in Danny's curled up form on the floor and his terrified expression, and started to softly giggle, his body glow brightening. Danny, although recovering from his initial shock and freeze, was still immobilized on the floor, and felt something in him seem to drain, as if the ghost enjoyed his fear.

The ghost, which unbeknownst to Danny was nicknamed the infamous Box Ghost, looked down at Danny to gloat, whatever mind he had basking in enjoyment at the utter fear that the young human had of him, when he suddenly noticed something different about Danny.

Danny felt as his body regained full strength, and watched in amazement as the Box Ghost, only seconds previous seeming to be in a mood of near ecstasy, widen his eyes and let his aura fade. "Preserve the Boxes I m-must" his echoing voice fading into a whisper as the ghost shrunk from the window.

"Danny? Danny where are you?"

Danny gasped and shot to his feet when his mother's voice echoed down the hallway and into the small room. The box ghost gave him a final look of trepidation before vanishing completely. Danny felt the temperature return to normal and the blue light fade away. So fast was the transformation of the room that Danny wondered whether something had set the whole place up as some movie set, before his mother came tramping in.

"Danny James Fenton, what are you doing in my observation office?"

"N-nothing mom, I just uh…got lost?"

"Danny, don't lie to me mister"

"Yes Mom, I was poking my nose where it didn't belong" Danny sheepishly admitted

"Well…come on, you're lucky the Box Ghost didn't have the nerve to scare the color out of you, come along, we can leave for home after I show you one last thing, and I'll think you'll like it" Maddie grinned before grabbing her son and dragging him along.

"But mom…the ghost it…oh never mind" Danny finally complied and came along, tagging behind his mother.

As the two of them left the room, the box ghost invisibly watched them leave. What he had seen, was at first a terrified human boy, then suddenly, he had seen a different ghost behind the boy, almost protectively. With his purple clock and red eyes with the small scar on one of his eyes, the box ghost could not have mistaken the ghost. No matter how unintelligent the box ghost was, he easily recognized the famous time master standing behind Danny.

Clockwork stood in the corridor, watching as Danny and his mother left. He looked down at a watch on his arm and gave a mysterious smirk. "Soon, Danny, time is running out for you" and time ticked on.


	4. Chapter 4

In a corner of Axiom labs, in a massive containment room was the portal, the inter-dimensional rift generator that was represented the pride and the joy of Maddie Fenton. Standing at 15 feet high and wide with all the other equipment used to power and run the machine; it represented the latest and finest technology in paranormal science, and the most expensive technology. So expensive, in fact, that Maddie had cut many corners to build the machine, despite protests of her manager; Jim Foley. Never the less, the portal had been built and that is why Maddie was dragging her son along to see her masterpiece.

For Danny, his mind was still somewhat shaken by the encounter with the box ghost. He had always heard of ghosts, seen pictures of them, but never actually see them in person. Something in Danny was telling him that his reaction should have been more volatile to the ghost, but Danny felt strangely calm, so calm that his mother did not seem to notice Danny was visibly shaken from the ordeal. She had few thoughts concerning the significance of finding her son in the presence of a ghost, due to the reason that she wanted to show Danny her work.

"Danny" his mother said "what I am about to show you is special to me, so please act tactfully, this is a special privilege to see the ghost portal"

Danny's ears perked up "A ghost portal? Like dimensions and all that?"

His mother nodded enthusiastically "Yes Danny, yes you get it. The ghost portal is a machine that will allow humans, for the first time, to enter and explore the dimension of ghosts that we call the ghost zone"

Danny's attention had been captured at the mention of a ghost "A ghost zone? Mom, seriously, a place of nothing but ghosts?"

"I knew you would believe me!" Maddie practically yelled "and I always knew it was real, nobody has listened to me now, but I knew that the ghost zone existed and that it was possible to create a stable, artificial portal between this world and that one."

Danny tuned out as his mother began to enthuse about the ghost portal. Usually it was his father that did the blathering, but when it came to the technical aspect of anything supernatural, it was nearly impossible to get his Mom to shut up. The two of them continued to walk down countless corridors as his mother dragged him to the 'ghost portal' she was excited about. However when Danny did see it, he couldn't help but be impressed, it was a neat machine, not to mention big.

After barreling through some security guards and a few doors, they had arrived in the portal control room, which, to Danny's delight, reminded him of mission control at NASA, with dozens of scientists and workers attending computer consoles and panels covered in flashing lights and buttons.

Danny was too transfixed by the room with its equipment to notice Jim Foley greet his mother, a little irate "Maddie, where have you been? We are running the AODR test in 10 minutes or so, and I could have used you for the other dozen tests this afternoon."

"Sorry Jim, it's just I was showing Danny around and…ah well, no excuses just I'm here now, so show me what's going on around here…but first" Maddie passed Jim, who sighed and returned to his computer consol at the head of the room.

"Danny, want to take a look at the portal first hand? This could make history you know, just think, a entire new world discovered!"

"What?" Danny wrenched his attention from the computers in the room, fascinated by the complicated controls "Oh…yeah sure"

Without further adieu, Danny felt his arm tugged firmly to the side as Maddie once again began to drag her son to a large door that lead down a small, spiral staircase which descended a level, past another, even heavier door to reveal.

"Oh wow" Danny nearly gasped as he beheld the ghost portal.

The room was almost 3 stories from floor to the domed ceiling and several car lengths across, all the walls concrete and heavy, apparently to contain any possible explosions that might occur. But every square foot of that space was needed to hold the ghost portal in its center. The 15 ft ring gleamed, 2 massive blast doors on each side of the cavernous portal ready to slam shut to seal off the other dimension in case of emergency. On each side of the portal were massive, imposing cylinders that crowded the machine, and above the portal, two large towers with a plethora of pipes and wires that fed into the portals interior.

"Check it out Danny, see those cylanders on each side, those are the ethereal oscillators that will balance out the backlash energy that the portal will generate. Look, see the towers, those have several thousand gallons of pure ectoplasm stored within them that will be filtered and refined into pure ecto energy. On the side, see that box, that's the ecto filter that removes excess ectoplasm that may leak from the ghost zone."

Maddie continued to describe the portal in detail as Danny surveyed the machine. It was certainly impressive and Danny felt awed. His mother had built this monster? It was hard to believe.

"**Attention, all personnel, AODR test commencing in 10 minutes" **A loud speaker blared in the room, echoing off the walls. Danny ignored the PA, instead focusing on the interior of the portal while his mother completely disregarded the announcement, still vividly describing building the machine.

"Danny, come on, take a look on the inside" Maddie pushed her son forward and into the machine, following. The portal interior was not that large, certainly not as large as one would imagine it, but it could of comfortably contained a car inside it. Unlike the rest of the vast machine, the interior had no pipes whatsoever save a series of thin grooves in the walls that circulated all around the chamber. On the ceiling were two large probes, looking like the electrodes used to bring Frankenstein to life, which hung down from the ceiling to point at the center of the portal.

"Up there Danny, those probes will channel the 45,000 kilowatts of electricity and ecto-energy to ionize the chamber and weaken the seam between this world and the next. Once that is done, an electromagnetic pulse will be released from behind those probes to tear a hole through reality to the ghost dimension! Those groves on the wall, see them, they have the counter magnets to keep the portal contained and they will release pulses from the oscillators to make sure the portal stays stable, as well as they are the drains for excess energy and ecto-plasm that may be spewed from the portal."

Danny listened in interest as his mother, sounding like a kid on Christmas, continued to describe vividly how the portal would be activated, while Danny continued to look up at the ceiling. "Mom, when will the portal be activated?"

"and the plates that make up the walls th…what? Oh, the activation will be next week when we have calibrated the oscillators and made some final adjustments."

"But what's the AODR test they keep…"

"**Attention, all personnel, AODR test commencing in 8 minutes" **

"talking about" Danny finished, his ears ringing from the PA.

"That's the All on dry run test, you see Danny, today Jim and his team have been testing all the components of the portal, so like the filtration towers and the power supply unit; to make sure they work properly and see what adjustments we have to make before we try to actually make a portal next week. This test should be the last of the day, and they will be testing everything but the portal itself. Essentially a simulation of running the portal just without activating machine, understand Danny?"

Danny nodded, a little confused by the his mother's rapid, breathless talking that rode over his head. "So that means we have to leave, I'm guessing?"

Maddie shook her head with a smile "Nope, because it's not the real test, the portal will be as inert as it is right now, and it's perfectly safe. Don't you think I would have considered your safety before bringing you down here?"

Danny grinned "Of course Mom, just sometimes you sound like you want to get me in some trouble when I leave the house to see Sam without your permission"

His mom gave a snort "Danny, you nearly gave me a heart attack last time you did that"

"**Attention, all personnel, AODR test commencing in 7 minutes, final checklist underway" **

"Got to go Danny, stay out of trouble, and don't touch anything okay. Try to stay somewhere where I can find you this time, okay"

Danny gave his mom a final nod before watching her march off.

….

"All right Jim, I'm here, so we have a go for AODR test?" Maddie sighed as she closed the door to the portal room behind her.

"Sure would have been nice if you could of helped set up the test Maddie, but yes, we are go for 6 minutes till the test, we're starting the computer checklist now"

Maddie turned her attention to a large screen at the head of the room that showed comprehensively the status of the test. A series of numbers scrolling down the screen indicated the process identification codes as the main computer frame ran through a pre-test checklist and began to warm up the machinery. A muffled humming started up as the machinery stirred to life and began to advance to operational status.

"Alright team" Jim addressed the scientists in the room "we are go for the test, cleared for testing in 5 minutes so stay frosty. Chris, begin recording all numbers, Tony start up the power supply to 87.5% and direct it to modules A6 and 7."

Maddie meanwhile focused on the screen, watching as the graph indicating the overall power flow through the machine begin to dance up and down, and inspecting the numbers that ran through the bottom of the screen

"Maddie" Jim tapped his coworker on the shoulder. "I'm concerned about of the safety of the portal, and I know that when you designed it, you removed a good deal of redundancies and fail safes on the portal as a cost cutting measure, but that does not mean that we should go ahead and test the portal without those safety measures, take the computer. We did not order it from Intel or something, we built it from scratch and I know that there are just not enough safety codes encoded on the computer to cope with all possible situa…"

"Jim, look, Vlad upstairs asked me to build the portal within a budget of just 5 million and a time frame of 6 months, and as it is the project is far over budget and we will just be barely meeting the deadline for when this has to be working. It was either we have a portal or not, and I decided that we could afford to cut some of the safety feature so that we could build the machine and get it working"

"But Maddie, the process of making the portal is extremely volatile and there is a high possibility of a explosion within the inhibitor modules if we are off by just .5 and a half on the calibration. "

Maddie gave a sigh "Jim, I know you're concerned, but…"

An alarm began to chime, somewhere in the room behind Jim and Maddie, a horrible sounding ring that turned Maddie's stomach to jelly.

"Jim" a scientist, his eyes widening as he stared at his station monitor "we've got a problem here"

"Blast it all Dom! What'd you do!" Jim practically flew over to the scientist

"I didn't do a blasted thing! It's the computer; we've got an overload in CPU number 2 and its" the scientist frantically typed something into the computer. "Not responding sir"

Jim leaned in and took a look at the computer screen which was reading in large red letter **"TEST FAILURE" **

"What? The test didn't even start, we were still running our check list"

"Jim?" Maddie fearfully asked her co-worker "what's going on?"

Jim didn't hear as his eyes widened "Maddie, what program does the computer go to incase of scenario V9?"

Maddie gasped and whispered "You're joking right…default…you are saying that the computer is reverting to DEFAULT!" Her voice ended in a yell that echoed through the room.

"But…but Jim, default, you know what the default program is…it's the program that turns the whole darn thing on, we haven't calibrated the system!"

Jim opened his mouth, but was cut short by a siren that sounded through the room, every single computer screen lighting up with the words "**SYSTEM FAILURE IMMENIENT" **"TURN OFF THE MAIN POWER SUPPLY" Jim shouted, his voice rising to a hysterical scream. But it was too late, unfortunately for Jim, the system had 3 separate and individual power supply systems to prevent the system from shutting down midway through the process of tearing open the portal, one of the safety features that had been built in to the system.

Maddie rushed over to the over-ride controls, only to find that many of the emergency safety programs had never been installed, as a cost cutting measure. Unfortunately for her, she had also forgotten that her son was still downstairs, in the portal room itself.


	5. Voltage

The world is never static, and is unbelievably dynamic. The world can change over the period of years, or even decades as entire societies advance, or it can change in less than a second with the flight of a bullet. Likewise, people must change with the world, or be left in the dust, whether voluntarily or not. Unfortunately for Danny Fenton, his change would be anything but slow or voluntary. But like all change, he was little aware that anything was about to happen.

What lead Danny to be inside the portal at that particular moment was beyond Danny. Perhaps he had been too trusting of his mother that it was perfectly safe, or perhaps Danny had not been thinking fully, simply letting himself wander heedlessly into danger. Whatever the case, it just so happened that as the disaster began inside the portal control room, Daniel Fenton was inside the ghost portal.

Why Danny had showed so much interest in the portal was the question that Danny asked consistently after the accident. The only thing that he could conclude was that it was the fact that his mother had built such an impressive and revolutionary machine that drew Danny like a moth to a lamp. No one could deny that the machine was impressive, but for Danny, he felt something far deeper than idle wonder and curiosity for the portal. There was something about the ghost portal that seemed historical, as if the machine was a part of history; much like the light bulb or car was when they were new. Something in this portal seemed to be destiny, although Danny could not pinpoint where this feeling came from

"_Maddie Fenton, Dom Leoson, Jim Foley, Christina Dease, Ben Marsen" _There Danny was, smack dab in the center of the portal scrutinizing a plate on the wall where several of the engineers for the portal had chalked their names. Danny looked around the center of the portal and tried to imagine the portal starting up, trying to visualize what another dimension could be like.

"Mom, you built this?" Danny said to no-one in particular "It feels interesting that I should be standing where a whole world could be. I mean, this is just like standing in a spaceship to another planet."

The portal echoed with the small sound of his voice, the metal plates on the sides gleaming as if trying to communicate to him.

"It would be neat to see this thing in action I suppose" Danny grinned as he pretended he was speaking to the portal "But I suppose you are much too important to perform to a lowly tourist. Isn't that right portal?"

The only reply was the sound of Danny's voice bouncing off the stark plates of the interior of the machine. Danny took a final look before starting to walk out of the ghost portal when…

"_DDanniel" _

"What?" Danny halted as his heart skipped a beat. Slowly he turned his head around to see…

The inside of empty portal, devoid of life save himself. "Umm…okay I think my mom wants me upstairs so if you want to talk to me mister portal you can find me with mi madre, comprende senor?" Danny chuckled as he let his heart rate die back down.

"_Dannny" _Danny felt a new wave of fear wash over him as his muscles tensed, as the voice emanated from the portal again, defiantly not a human sound as the voice came, a telepathic waved beamed into his mind, making the voice seem as if it came from all around Danny.

"_Danny Fenton, over here" _Danny was now terrified, even more the box ghost, since the box ghost was in a cage, and at least visible. But this was the equivalent of Danny sitting in the cage with a wolf eyeing him from a corner.

"_Danny, you have no need to fear me" _The only thing that kept Danny from running was that at that moment, the voice was becoming more and more clear, a little less echoing, and slightly more friendly. As much as Danny was scared, the deep, powerful feeling of intrigue and curiosity tore through those waves of fear and locked Danny into place. His mind became numbed, broken between the want to run, and the want to know what was inside the portal.

"Daniel Fenton, come hither" The voice was so normal sounding Danny swore that someone was right in front of him. Danny's feelings of fear died like a fire doused with water, or in this case, a enormous amount of curiosity, although it was a smoldering feeling that sent shudders up and down his spine even as he squinted his eyes and looked inside the portal, searching for something to indicate a ghost of sorts.

Danny felt the temperature drop, like a blast of arctic air, and a new, more sinister feeling of being watched enter his mind. Danny took a step back "Who are you?"

A sudden clinking noise, like a coin dropped on the floor and rolling on its side, coinciding with a small flicker of motion that seemed to materialize out of the dim light in the portal on the floor made Danny rock back and forth or the heels of his boots as he nearly broke into a run. A scream was charging up in the back of Danny's throat and he was breathing at almost twice the rate as he normally would, and yet he stayed his ground, locked into place by some feeling that Danny could no longer describe.

Silence now reigned, Danny felt some beads of sweat emerging on his forehead as he became unnerved by the silence. The cold chills and feelings of being watched died down, but still were there.

"Ok Fenton, keep it together…just, alright I'm taking a final look before I book it!" Danny yelled to confirm his thought process and to boast his shaky mind to prevent a full breakdown that would send him on a mad dash for the door. Closing his eyes, Danny let a single through race through his head of 'why am I not in total terror, this is stupid just run for it while you can'

A final breathe and Danny bounded forward a step to take a quick look at the source of the motion and coin drop sound, before digging his heels into the metal floor of the portal and racing back out.

Danny was almost to the door out of the containment chamber when the image of what he had just seen bloomed into his mind.

"A…medal?" The sheer strangeness of this halted Danny completely. "A medal?" Danny repeated out loud. "What in earth's name" Danny turned his head back to look at the portal with a look of disbelief. Had he seen a decorated medallion on the floor of the ghost portal just now.

"This day just get crazier by the minute" Danny said as he shook his head and doubled back inside the portal to take another look of utter disbelief. How on earth did a medal like that end up on the floor of…

Danny took a quick look to make sure he seemed to be alone inside the portal, before coming and kneeling before the strange object on the floor.

It was a medallion, and one of the strangest ones he had ever seen. Intricately decorated with a pointed and stamped design that made Danny feel a little dizzy, with a lone blue ribbon, what was the most bizarre fact was that it had the faintest of glows to it, and had no other distinguishing characteristics other than two letters in large, ornamental font. "C.W."

Danny suddenly felt another wave of chills coming on before his heart nearly stopped when, in the reflection of the metal floor plates he saw a man, his image blurry but unmistakable, in a tattered purple clock that seemed to flutter withered in a invisible breeze and a face, corpse blue that had the most arresting and invidious smile that Danny could only imagine.

Danny shot his head up and prepared to once again bolt like a rabbit chased by a dog, only to see absolutely nothing before him.

"I am going nuts" Danny murmured to himself "this is just way too surreal"

"Danny" Danny gave a yelp of surprise and fell on to the floor as the voice came next to his ear. Now on his back, scared and ready to give a scream to be heard till kingdom come, Danny felt his heart nearly stop when the voice came again, once again whispering into his ear

"Danny, time's up"

At that moment, a klaxon siren gave a single, quick blast that echoed and Danny looked, now in horror, as a red light began to flash outside of the portal entrance. Then, the terrible sound of clanking gears and sliding wheels started up, and right before Danny's eyes, the two blast doors that protected the portal began to slide together inexorably and with a terrible speed.

"Crap…crap…CRAP" Danny catapulted off his rear to the doors, and was halfway through them before yanking his body back into the portal to avoid being bisected by the massive blast doors that slid together and with a definite and very loud clang, sealed Danny off from the rest of the world and plunging him into darkness.

The next sound was just as petrifying; the sound of high voltage equipment warming up and activating, muffled behind the thick metal blast doors, but very audible none the less.

Danny felt his heart sink and his stomach drop to his shoes. "Um…Mom, if this is to scare me, it's not so scary anymore, this is downright CATOSTROPHIC! Danny's voice was raw and hysterical as he screamed at the stark metal doors.

"crud, crud, crud, what the heck Mom, locking me in and turning this thing on…are you kidding me! This is…cr…ap…oh…fudge! FUDGE! DAD! MOM! GET ME OUT OF HER!" Danny frantic screams and scrapping at the unforgiving blast doors was understandable as the two large electric probes that extending from the ceiling into the center of the portal began to glow a ghastly green that lit up the portal

Every hair on Danny's body began to rise and stand on end, not just because of the extreme duress that Danny was in, but because of a palpable feeling in the air that felt like electricity coursing through the air particles, alarming Danny.

"Come on Mom, I'm still in here, I am going to die if you don't open up the doors, it would be really nice if my favorite color was green right now but it's not so, HHHEEEELLLPP!" Danny's only thought was terror and he began to yell, a raw throated yell that rose in panic and terror as the two glowing probes began to spark with flashes of green, ethereal electricity that began to bounce back and forth across the chamber. As this happened, the groves in the wall glowed green as well, and pure ectoplasm began to seep out of them, floating in mid air as numerous globs of goo through the portal as if there was no gravity. Danny's eyes opened wider than ever and glinted green in the chamber which was growing brighter by the second, his ears began to hear whisperings and strange, alien rings that channeled through his brain, his mind slowed and thoughts were garbled as telepathic waves emanated from the weakening barrier between the human dimension and the next.

The now countless globs of ectoplasm began to glow with an intensity Danny had only through the sun could produce, and Danny shielded his eyes, all at the same time while yelling, which was turning into a scratchy scream. The electrical sparks being produced by the brightly glowing probes turned into bolts that began to course through the thousands of ectoplasm globs till a matrix or web of the thousands of ethereal bolts of electricity and globs of ectoplasm formed. In their center, reality tore apart, light itself was bent and a sphere of energy began to form, spinning and humming. Danny's mind shut down, overwhelmed by what the feeble human senses were trying to feed him, their last action was to continue to order the lungs to keep exhausting every molecule of air through his vocal chords to produce a scream unlike Danny had ever produced.

The probes began to not just hum, but roar in a sound that was closest to the static of a television, except far louder and with far more intensity. Both probes gave a final blast of green light that became white before discharging two beams of energy that struck the small sphere of energy, which in turn began to expand.

And so Danny's world changed, involuntarily and in the period of a millisecond, as he was engulfed by the blast of energy that enveloped the portal interior. His scream, continued even as his lungs disintegrated and his human body withered away, tearing away from the limitations of using the medium of sound waves and continuing as a single telepathic wave that passed through metal and matter alike

….

….

Far above the containment room, and far to the side, Jack Fenton was sneaking to the small fridge in the kitchenette. Opening the door, Jack gave a small, maniacal chuckle as he groped for the fudge that a coworker had brought in that morning

"Come to me, fudge…and together, we shall be one and prepare to dominate all who dare stand in our pa…"

At that moment, the noise of a single, otherworldly scream welled up through the floor and passed through the room, ignoring the weak barriers that the walls presented, as the waves of terrible screeching charged through, one after another.

Jack froze, his expression still in a half crazy smile and stood, bent over the fridge, his mind doing the snail and hiding in a small mental shell. Meanwhile, around him, the lights flickered and several, with pops and flashes of light, exploded to come crashing to the floor. Anything transparent and glass sustained cracking, and plaster and ceiling panels tumbled to the floor while the building's frame gave a groan and the entire room shuddered, sending unsecured objects on flat surfaces toppling over.

The scream was dying away, like an echo fading away, when Jack blinked his eyes and looked around, with a somewhat suspicious look on his face, before returning to trying to steal a bit of fudge.

A coworker stumbled through the doorway and peered into the small nook, his face blanched and wearing a expression of alarm

"Jack what in the blazes is going on!" he whispered in a shuddering voice

Jack stuffed another handful of fudge in his face before whipping around, slamming the fridge door behind him "Ooh, oumm…nuthing jost" Jack swallowed another gulp. "I suppose a ghost stubbed its toe downstairs or something like that, can't affect us at all"

The coworker was in disbelief to see Jack Fenton's spunky face, surrounded by the wreckage of the room, still licking his chops to lap up last bits of fudge.

"Whatever you say Jack, whatever you say" and the coworker stumbled back down the corridor, careful to avoid the glass shards and pieces of plaster and ceiling panels on the floor.

Jack turned back around "Now fudge, we shall be unified on the field of consumption!"

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you to all my reviewers: __Biisaiyowaq__, __prophetofgreed__snuggle-puss __EndGame666__BeltanaMaraShuma__Rubbishh.__Sunshine-Midnight123__Samara __JackieDanielStark__Phantomgirl96__turkeyhead987 __Pixie dust of doom__popp-ed corn__and any others I failed to mention. You have made this story possible. I am taking my time with this story so be patient…Danny will have lots of powers soon enough. That said, I am open to suggestions for story modifications. To popp-ed corn specifically thank you for the idea of Clockwork's interference. _

_Notice: hopefully the characters are not that OOC (Out of Character) so somebody complain if otherwise. _


	6. Sedative

_Author's note: Yeah…(cough) here we go on Danny's interesting slip sliding path to…blah. So read and reiview if you want but…Okay I need advisors on how to write this because I know the story has major issues. So please weigh in and give me your honest comprehensive opinion. _

_This chapter is longer than usual, so read it and _

_Oh forget it, I need a cookie. _

To describe the reactions of those in portal control room, how they were first mournful when they realized that a person was still in the portal, to how they were incredulous when the computer screens flashed "PORTAL STABILIZED", to how they were flabbergasted that the portal was working at peak efficiency, would take far too long. It is a tale that would take many pages to describe, about the emotions of Jim Foley who nearly passed out on the floor, or how Maddie Fenton did pass out, or Dom Leoson leaving to get a drink, muttering something about 'the world's gone mad'. Rather, it would be more enlightening to go directly to Danny, who was still there.

Still alive? Well, if you count still being able to think and behave human, yes Danny was very alive. But if you count being physically alive, Danny failed miserably

For Danny, from this point on he would always talk about his life as being before and after the portal, much like before and after the common era, or BC and AD. Never again would Danny have the life he had before the portal, and he could have never imagined his life after the portal, for they were radically different. So different, that Danny sometimes would describe his life as before and after his rebirth.

Danny was sure that whatever he experienced walking up after the portal incident was similar to being born, whatever that was like. One thing for sure, when Danny meant he was reborn, It was truly being thrust into an entire new world of existence.

…

The pain was beyond description. For Danny, the pain, although lasting just several seconds before letting himself fall into blissful unconsciousness, was so excruciating that Danny would still shudder from the mere memory of the ordeal many years later. Unlike most normal injuries, the pain was not concentrated, but all over his body. From head to toe, every nerve cell on Danny's body had flooded Danny's brain with racks of agonizing pain, and the pain did not end there, it seemed to work into through his body, every organ, every internal nerve cell sending torrents of pain to Danny's tortured mind, and finally there was the pain of the soul, Danny felt his soul being wrenched, his very life force being bent and twisted, added to and dissected. And then, there was darkness, as Danny felt his soul and his life vanish into a black hole, deeper than the dark of sleep and more mysterious than the unknown black of a coma.

The world of the living slowly faded into view, the light dimly filtering through Danny's heavy eye lids, revealing a massive blur that began to slowly gain definition and turn into a full image before him. Almost immediately, the pulsating sting of his partial death began to snake through him, but faded fast

"_How's it doi…g Ben, any de…pment on t…con…ition of the spirit?"_

Voices? Danny wondered in his near delirious state, what were they talking about?

"_More activity…there is another inc…se in his EPC by 4.3%, picking up so…thing new here, might be increased thinking activity" _

Danny felt a flash of confusion waft through his sluggish mind. What and who was there, why? The sounds became more defined while his sight solidified. Danny's sluggish brain emerged from its near death state and began to operate, throwing off the shackles of the throbbing soreness that permeated his body.

"_There it goes, another blip on the sensor, _right there, looks like a live one,"

Danny snapped awake, to be confronted by a very disconcerting situation. He was apparently in a fairly small room, a single bright bulb flooding the room with light, revealing a large, one-way window before him.

"where am I?" Danny groggily moaned, the words seeming to come out in an unfamiliar echo. Silence was the only response. Danny blinked, clearing his vision.

What happened? His memory was still fuzzy. The one thing Danny did not want to remember was the pain, which was his only memory that he could recall! One moment he had been confused, and then he was fearful. That was it, he was scared and…inside the portal! The memory finally came back, he had been in the portal and it had activated, with him in it, causing the pain.

This was only dawning on Danny when he realized that something was oddly off. He was missing the sensation of standing, or sitting, or feeling a surface he was on at all. He seemed to be floating, a mind without a body. Perplexed, Danny looked down and waved his hand in front of his face. Wait, what hand?

Danny felt alarm rising in him to see nothing where his hand should have been, and then further unease when there was a definite lack of an arm, elbow, funny bone and all. Danny twisted his view further and attempted to inspect the rest of himself

"What happened?" Danny nearly coughed on the words "Why the _heck _is my chest gone, where are my legs, WHERE'S MY BODY!

Danny might have laughed at the sheer absurdity of the situation, that he should ask such a question, but at this point, Danny was drawing a blank. Nothing seemed to be making sense. This was just…unreal.

Danny shook his head violently and attempted to slap his face in an attempt to shack him from this surreal dream. But to his alarm, he had no awareness of legs, arms, neck, and the only thing he appeared he could do was move his vision.

New feelings became prominent. Danny realized that whatever body he did have, whether visible or not, was pulsating with a chill that ran up and down his seemingly shapeless form. More bizarre was that the chill seemed to manifest itself in his vision. Danny could never explain, but he could see where the chills seemed to originate from, congregating around certain areas of his field of view. His sight itself seemed to be abnormally off in itself, as Danny blinked hard, as his sight of the walls around him seemed to fade, becoming almost transparent, turning into a world of transparent mists where the walls used to be.

"What the heck is going on here? Stop, this has to be a joke of some sort. I need to wake up, this is just a dream I'm not awake I'm…not even breathing!" Danny incredulously attempting to gasp, but felt nothing. His lungs were gone.

Hold on here, Danny reigned in his increasingly muddled mind and began to review why possibly could this be occurring. Think, Danny thought, the last memory he had was…he was in the portal! It had turned on with how many volts?

"crap" Danny, in a voice of shock "Crap" Danny felt the implications of being in the portal at its activation point become palpable "CRAP!" Danny gave a full shout, his voice seeming to change in pitch to a most unnatural sound that sent new waves of fear through his mind.

The million dollar question: Was Danny dead? Danny felt a random, almost hysteric burst of laughter bubble up in his throat and come out as a odd gargle. The question was downright ludicrous; was Danny dead? Danny felt a sense of denial wash through his intellect. Of course he wasn't dead, he could see and think, he could talk and he could hear and…

But was he alive? Danny nearly laughed again, of course he wasn't alive; HIS BODY WAS MISSING FOR PETE'S SAKE!

"Alright, anyone around! This is just _Stupid! _What kind of joke is this! What is going on!"

Danny felt his stomach, at least his proverbial stomach drop a football field when the silence became oppressive. Okay, just to recap, Danny considered, he was shocked by something around 4 million volts and watts and all that jazz, inside a ghost portal, he was possibly dead and his body was probably a smoking pile of ashes on the floor. Oh this was fantastic.

"CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPP! Crappity crappity crap my life! This is not happening, I cannot be dead!" Danny let his mind spill as the thoughts came racing out one after another "NOOOO, NO, no, NOOOO, this is not happening, AHHHHHH!"

…..

...

Maddie Fenton took out another anti-stress pill and hastily popped it in her mouth. She looked back up from her seat and looked at the glass, before looking back down and putting another in her mouth.

"_CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPP! Crappity crappity crap my life! This is not happening, I cannot be dead! NOOOO, NO, no, NOOOO, this is not happening, AHHHHHH, I am alive I can't be freaking dead, ! AHHHHH! Where's my hands!" _Telepathic waves of words came through the glass allowing her to observe the ghost, blasting into her mind. Earplugs were useless in this situation, but Maddie was staying glued to the seat, her mind to distracted to realize the volume of the shouting.

Maddie rubbed her face, hard. This was nearly beyond comprehension. She looked down at a binder she had set before her, filled with the countless notes she had taken during hours of observation of ghosts. Graphs, charts, diagrams, the notes and hypothesizes before her all of them were just about useless, because what was occurring right before her eyes was...well, to make a big understatement, not normal and disproved any and all theories that Maddie Fenton had drawn up in years of research into ghost behavior.

The notes said ghosts formed with an inert mind in the hours immediately following the transformation of a soul into a ghost. Well, the ghost that was contained in the observation room before her was more than thinking, but screaming at that. The notes said that ghosts had a limited display of emotions and thought processes. Well, there went another 10 pages of notes into the fire. The notes said ghosts were always born in the ghost zone. Nope, that was wrong too.

What was the most mind blowing thing was that, the ghost they had discovered with several sensors and a team of specialists outside the ghost portal was most likely her son.

Maddie had nearly had a heart attack when she realized Danny was inside the ghost portal at the moment of activation, and promptly fainted. Not that Maddie was one to faint easily, but the shock of realizing Danny was dying was overwhelming. She woke up just a minute later in a room of gasps and amazed scientists, alerting her that the portal was operating at nearly full efficiency. At that point, Maddie went into full mother protection mode, and, ignoring the shouts of her coworkers to come back, neglected to don a biohazard suit and gas mask, busting straight into the portal room, overriding the safety codes on the blast doors.

In any other situation, Maddie would have whopped for joy and called for Champagne, because her lifelong work, the ghost portal, was there, in full glory, a swirling vortex of ecto energy, the equipment humming, the room filled with a eerie green glow. But Maddie took a quick look around the room, searching for Danny. Then came the torrent of tears as she searched, every nook and cranny, high and low, from the centrifuges to the generators, to find her son, but to no avail. She perhaps would have thrown herself into the portal itself had it not been for a team of scientists, wearing full biohazard suits and gas masks and handeling sensors and other equipment, burst into the portal room and attempted to restrain her.

She had been sedated. One of the scientists on hand somehow was carrying a syringe of knockout drugs and prudently injected Maddie before she did anything drastic.

If only she had acted with restraint, Maddie would have discovered what had the entire Axiom labs staff in an uproar. Instead, Maddie was dragged out of the room, decontaminated for ecto-radiation, and placed in a small office under watch till she woke up. Even as she was dragged away, one of the scientists had brought out a modified Geiger counter, designed to pick up concentrations of ecto-radiation rather than regular radiation, and discovered a high concentration of ecto energy just aside the portal. The amounts of energy were unmistakable, there was a specter.

Using an ecto-thermos, another Maddie invention, they had captured the invisible spirit and quickly brought it in for study. Quite possibly, this was the first ghost to ever come through the portal, a groundbreaking event, that the scientists were excited to study. Though they felt sympathy for the plight of Maddie Fenton, that her son was dead, and many of scientists, out of respect for Maddie, refused to set foot near the portal room and privately began to reflect over possible actions they took that may have lead to the horrible disaster, other scientists were ecstatic that the portal was working and a ghost had come through the dimensional hole. However, when they released the ghost into an observation cell, everything changed.

Believe it or not, the ghost was entirely invisible, unable yet to form a corporal form in the dimension. The only way the eager scientists could take observations on the ghost was through a series of sensors and probes that slowly but surely began to analyze the ghost's makeup. But what they began to discover shocked them. When Maddie did wake up a few hours later, she was immediately alerted to get in the observation room and start a comprehensive evaluation.

"You feeling better Maddie?" Jim Foley quietly walked up "Hope the sedative didn't stop you from thinking clearly"

"No…its fine Jim, just trying to get my mind in order" Maddie shakily replied.

"that's going to be hard Maddie, considering that this ghost is breaking every theory on ghosts we have"

Maddie winced as another round of shouting started up as the ghost yelled its core out. "If it's the ghost of my son, that's all I need to hear"

What the scientists had discovered was that the ghost had no known composition. Its ectoplasm simply was unknown. More than that, the psychic activity was far different than previously observed, and the ghost was not years old as everyone thought, but only hours, meaning…

Dom Leoson came up, a large print out in hand as he took an anxious breath and addressed his superior. "Maddie, the preliminary report is as follows; Ghost has been designated with the code number PF-107XZ, the operation to study the abnormality of the nature of the ghost has been designated as 'Operation Phantom' which was named in consideration of how little we known about the nature of the subject under scrutiny. We have security clearance of alpha 1, so you understand that this has just become our newest top secret project to immediately follow up 'Operation twilight' for the portal construction. All righty" Dom scrolled down the page "The ghost has a physic activity average of 56.4, EPC is averaging at 4.3, stability is at a unstable 68%, but PED is off the charts and rising at 76% already which coincides with the SVR of a high 85% and climbing. Ectoplasmic composition is unknown, EGC is n/a, CPS is n/a and its all n/a till we get to age of ghost is 2 hours, 14 minutes, at 2 minutes ago which, unless a ghost popped through the portal, makes this ghost the ghost of Daniel Fenton."

Maddie felt tears welling up in her eyes. Speaking In a shaky voice that struggled to maintain composure, Maddie said.

"Jim, can I speak to my son?"

Jim gave a small nod and stepped back "Alright crew, Maddie Fenton will have the honor of first contact so turn on your sensors and earphones and stay quiet, a ghost is still a ghost so be prepared for anything"

The room fell silent. Jim looked up and down the row of scientists at small computer consoles, the glow of the computer screens the only light that illuminated the room, the main overhead light turned off for easier observation of the ghost. Feeling like he was giving the go ahead to talk to aliens, Jim tensed himself "Maddie, go ahead"

Maddie slowly flipped a switch or two on a small microphone that she lowered to her face

"Danny, can you hear me?"

The ghost fell silent

"Mom?"

_Author's note: So yeah…Really sorry if my OC character is obnoxious. Had to make up somebody that Maddie could talk to besides_ _my other OC of Tucker's dad. Thanks, 30 reviews! Let's aim for 50 by chapter 7! Can't wait to write the next chapter! We'll see this fun Danny-Maddie interaction and see if Danny can go human…much less visible, but I think Jack is going to left in the dark about this. Just wait till chapter 10! Hopefully we can get Sam and Tucker into play although I'm going to need major help writing them. By Chapter 12 hopefully we can get Vlad thrown in and the GIW and the US military and some spies and…oops, I'm going to ruin everything! I know some people are going WTF, where's Danny, what the crap is going on! But I'll try to explain it all. Oh and notice that the name Phantom showed up? _

_Cheers and sparkling grape juice for reviewers (sorry folks, gotta wait on the fermented grape juice, not yet to that age yet) The more the merrier! HAPPY THANKSGIVING & BLACK FRIDAY (which really isn't a holiday) _

_DBack47 _


	7. Memories

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: So I had a snow day today so WHOO FOR THAT! And I finished this overly long chapter. Thanks to all reviewers, I wish I could list your names but I..got no excuse for that. And to any new readers, I like reviews, just like you like reviews when your stories get them. Do to others what you like others to do to you. Hope you enjoy this chapter _

_**WARNING: **__The end of the chapter will be raising the rating of this story to T for Teen. And please do not shoot me for it. _

A soft fall of flurries swirled and gently floated through the frigid air to the ground, melting almost instantly upon contact with the glass. A mist of condensation obscured the view as Danny idly blew on the car window, slowly fingering patterns and watching the mist fade away.

The car hit a pothole and Danny's focus was shattered as he returned to the real world, unhappy thoughts flooding into his mind. The first one was 'I hate school'

"I can't wait to see you at school!" Jazz's high-pitched but melodious voice dominated the small car interior as she chattered away to one of her large social network on her cell phone. "Don't worry, I got the wrapping paper and markers…I know, she'll be thrilled when she gets there!"

Danny rolled his eyes at the near squeal his sister emitted as she concluding the next statement. He didn't care how smart or well behaved his sister was, but some things never changed. Like his place on Casper High's social ladder; near the bottom. Actually, it wasn't that horrible, just Danny got grouped into the nondescript category of nobodies. Some people were smart, others shared their mischievous ways in laughing groups, sport captains and players acted like they owned the school while Danny was…well Danny was Danny Fenton. Not Danny Fenton the honors student, not Danny Fenton the geek or point man on the basket ball team, just another student that attended the school. But as for his sister…

Danny looked over, a little envious, at Jazz, who was still engrossed in her telephone conversation. Danny may have been Jazz's brother, but Danny couldn't help but notice her growing number of male admirers in the Junior Class, who weren't just looking for looks. Jazz's tendency to be vivacious, highly intelligent, practical and successful everywhere she went was certainly arresting, not to mention that the loving care that his sister gave her long red hair that cascaded down her back and attention to appearance was paying off. Jazz may not have been at the top of the Junior Class's social pyramid, but she was nowhere near the bottom, while Danny was….

"_Crap, I forget to read the chapter!" _Danny winced as the unhappy thought popped up. Mr. Lancer was certainly not lenient on his reading quizzes and anything but sympathetic to a student who had nothing remarkable about him, save Danny's tendency to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Danny's heart sank as his low C in English seemed to stand out in his memory, and as Casper High filled the window.

"Alright Jazz, don't forget to turn that check in to Miss Sanders in the Office, and Danny, please try to find your lunch container, considering that it's the 2nd one you've lost since you started bringing lunch to school, and please don't forget your books as I am not coming back here so you can grab whatever you forgot"

"Yes Mom" Danny glumly stated. Why him, why was it that Danny, in a family where his mother made the news periodically, Jazz landed up in the Amity Park Newspaper as student of the week and his Dad was…well Dad was Dad, that Danny was followed by bad choices, luck, and a short memory?

Danny was glad his Dad had opted to go into the office early today, as his flashy and conspicuous SUV, with its large floodlights and jacked up suspension, which he affectionately had named the Fenton Ghost Assault vehicle in honor of his wife's work, drew stares and more embarrassingly, snickers as a blushed Jazz and Danny exited the vehicle down the small ladder their Dad had installed. His mother's car suited Danny's mood. The generic, run-of-the-mill sedan with its mellow paint blended into the mass of cars that clogged the road leading to the drop of zone and parking lot to Casper High school. On a cold, grey, wintery day such as this, Danny welcomed a quiet entrance to Casper High with open arms.

Danny took a breath, and then disembarked from his mother's car, mumbling a goodbye to his all too chipper mother.

Danny always enjoyed seeing all of Casper High arriving because you could read the school like a book as the students walked in. From the more brainy characters, lugging bulging backpacks and band instruments in, to the more affluent of the school's students who practically strutted as the crossed the school's heavily salted threshold, or the athletes with their heavy sports equipment, and people like Danny, who tugged at their coats in a futile effort to keep the cold out. Danny shivered as Casper High loomed above him, looking hard at the ground and trying to ignore as he was crowded in by the mass of arriving students. He was simply not in the mood to attract unwarranted attention.

The ancient school with its somewhat gothic design, sculpted overhangs, brick façade, and imposing stone entrance with the school's name carved bluntly into the stone disappeared from view as the noise level soared, a blast of heat rushed through, and Danny marched up those worn steps and through the battered doors that was the dividing line between freedom and the daily grind of learning.

Jazz had vanished into the mass of students, and Danny felt his personal space encroached upon. The hallways were filled with a cacophony of locker doors banging, laughs and quick chatter, as Danny tried to think over his homework, and what the quiz in 1st hour English might possibly be like.

Danny pulled aside from the stream of classmates and arrived at locker 675, where he had just opened the lock and door when a blunt shove from behind sent his forehead slamming into the unforgiving metal with a unnatural crack.

"Ehhhh! What the fudge!" Danny spun around, hand whipping to caress a sore and growing bump as he looked around resentfully for the culprit. A sudden but similar crack of another skull slamming against a locker brought Danny's view to rest on Dash Baxter, who almost casually was shoving random students against lockers as he strode down the hall.

"Dash, I…I'll tell on you for that! Danny yelled to Dash's hulking frame "you can't do that indiscriminately!"

Dash stopped, swiveled around and sauntered back to Danny, his height of well over 6 feet towering over Danny. Dash, with a most callous look on his face leaned against the lockers, his muscles flexing just beneath his varsity jacket. "Who'll end up with a bloody nose if you tell on me?" Dash growled in a threatening voice. "Even if I do get in trouble" Dash suddenly stopped, stared down at Danny, blue eyes locking with blue before overlooking the crowd of students.

Several of those who were victim to Dash's antics looked away as Dash's piercing glare swept the crowd "That goes for all of you!" Dash called in his quarterback bark. "I guarantee that telling on me isn't worth the trouble, right Fenton?" Dash roughly elbowed Danny who coughed hard.

"Alright Fenton, I'll justify myself, I just happen in a bad mood this morning, so I'm sorry that I just happened to 'accidently' bump into you" Dash said with a sneer "So next time, don't say anything, just take it like a man, if you are one" Dash strode off, leaving Danny with a sinking feeling in his stomach

"Idiot" Danny murmured to himself "I should have realized Dash was in a bad mood"

It wasn't that Dash was a sadistic person who caused abuse to others for the fun of it, but rather that Dash was part of the upper echelon of kids that felt like they ruled the school. Kwan, Dash, Paulina, Star, Valerie, they were all part of an exclusive group of teenagers that did virtually whatever they wanted at Casper High. They were not out to hurt but simply to retain their position of high social status. Dash, as an example, could punch a kid in the face one day and then help him out the next. One time, Dash had generously lent Danny money, and then extorted from him the next day. And it wasn't the physical violence that was as devastating as it was the social bullying. Dash and his friends simply excluded everyone. They treated each other like royalty and treated everyone else with disregard, in the end creating a sense of exclusion. They also wasted few opportunities in placing themselves in the good light with the teachers. All and all, they were unpredictable and in the worst ways; at the expense of others.

"You alright man? Hope Dash didn't hit you too hard?"

Danny cracked a relieved smile "Nah, he's just being Dash"

Tucker Foley, red beret, PDA and all, gave Danny their old handshake.

"Glad to see you Tucker, nearly beat you last night on Doomed!" Tucker gave Danny an offended look. "What do ya mean, you lost by nearly 3 deaths! I personally knifed you on the last kill of the match!"

"Stop whining Tucker, you know that I'll beat you…one of these days" Danny chuckled as he reached back into his locker to grab some books. "You get your homework done?"

"Blasphemy! You dare utter that word when we are discussing the epic game of Doomed!" Tucker cried out, sarcasm dripping.

Danny laughed "Seems like someone is in denial"

"Bah, homework is for elementary school kids" Tucker spat out "teenagers get gadgets!" he said delightedly as he wrenched his trusty PDA out of his pocket

Danny had known Tucker for as long as he could remember, starting back years previous to preschool even. And they had grown into their friendship, the fraternity betwixt them had bonded stronger to the point that Tucker was, in effect, Danny's brother. They shared the same books, classes, went everywhere together as much as possible, and even had brotherly spats of bickering occasionally.

Tucker's flipped his PDA on. In an age of smart phones and touch screens, Tucker was consistently receiving odd looks for his possession of a relatively antiquated technology. Of course, it was not just a factory bought PDA but rather one he had dissected and rebuilt, programming and tailoring it into what was a computer more versatile than a laptop and with as much computing power as any computer out there. But that was beside the point, which was that one thing that Tucker did not share with Danny was his love for computers and gadgets, and meat.

"Check it out Danny, finally hacked the school's firewall system and the password, can finally have internet in Casper High 24/7 and play Doomed on the go."

"So" Danny mused "you spent months on cracking a firewall when you could have used Casper High's library computers right?"

"Well" Tucker grinned "I never did think much of the media center's computers, and with unlimited school internet access, I can play any game I want and I'm not paying for it!"

"Isn't that, by definition, stealing Tucker?"

"Nooooo!" Tucker gave a surreptitious look "It's called…umm…long term borrowing from the school that doesn't know I can do that, besides, Dash and his friends steal from the vending machines all the time, it's not like the school has other problems to concern themselves with, I'm just harmlessly siphoning a bit of their internet service away."

Danny frowned "Dash is really becoming more abusive now a days, I hope he gets busted."

"Well, his report cards are free targets for vengeance, it's not like I spent the first of school hacking those for nothing"

Danny felt tempted, but quickly shook off the thought "Tucker, do you really mess up report cards?" only to receive an innocent look from Tucker who said. "Alright, I gave one of my quiz grades a tiny boost but because I deserved those point! Mrs. Leigh had no right to take off 10% because I forgot to write in pencil."

But Danny's mind was on other things, as Tucker busily tapped on his device "What do you think Tucker, is Dash a total jerk or just a bully?"

"Doesn't seem to matter, either way, but forget about Dash, Sam told me that we're heading to the stadium downtown on Wednesday for some volunteer hours with some eco-pro thingy and afterwards to watch the Amity Plungers loose…again."

Danny snorted in partial amusement "why would we want to go see them; they should rename the Amity Plungers the Amity Pwned; it's more entertaining to watch their fail of a basketball game get creamed by the opposing…"

RIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGG!

The classic school bell echoed through the hallways, and the mood changed instantly as the hallways were thrown into a flurry of movement as students began to close conversations and head to classes.

"Alright Danny see you 3rd hour in history"

"See ya bro!" Danny watched as Tucker retreated, still enraptured by his PDA, till he vanished in the mass of passing students, red beret, glasses and all.

"Well, back to the grind" Danny considered as he reflected about his failure to read for the quiz in first hour.

….

….

"Oh Dash, I saw your dunk at last night's game, you were fantastic!"

"Paulina, stop it, no kisses I'm kind of in a bad mood this morning"

Dash wiggled out of Paulina's _very _public display of affection and let out a grunt as he plopped down at his desk while Paulina kneeled down next to him with a adoring stare

"Oh don't worry about anything, you've got me and things are going to be just fine"

"And where are the TV cameras" Danny murmured to himself, half expecting that he was on some drama show, at least, by the way Paulina was acting. Danny did sneak a peek at the Latino teenager that was caressing Dash.

There was no wonder why Paulina was in the higher level of kids on the social scale. Her brown hair, with some blond highlights interspersed between the curled locks, framed a geometrically perfect face that was enhanced by heavy makeup. Her clothes did little to hide her curves, although they were modest…enough, at least enough not to draw the scrutiny of teachers.

All and all, Danny was momentarily hypnotized by her form, which wasn't helped by the somewhat seductive position she was sitting in before he wrenched his eyes away. The illusion was shattered the instant Paulina spoke. Although her voice was pretty, and what she said was sweet, it was a kind of sickly sweet, like the sweet you get when you mix sugar into honey. Most boys fell for it, Danny included. In fact, Danny was so enraptured by Paulina that he had practically become her servant for a while in hopes of finding favor with the fair maiden, only to realize that it was an exercise in futility. Ever since then, Danny still admired Paulina's beauty but that was all, as Danny could see past the façade and perceive the countless shortcomings with her. No, Danny would have traded many friendships with Paulina for an acquaintance with his second best friend; Samantha Manson.

Her entrance to the classroom was unnoticed, and even Mr. Lancer, who was taking attendance, seemed to not even realize a student arrived tardy. Only Danny seemed to notice her presence in the class room.

Sam had hidden beauty, which Danny knew firsthand. Back in 8th grade, Sam had worn the fashionable designer threads her parents had made her wear, wore her hair long and carried herself with a grace that had every boy in Danny's elementary school infatuated with her. That was, of course, before the war. Starting in the summer between High school and Middle school, war had erupted in the Manson household when Sam's grandfather died. Danny still didn't know why, but something Sam's parents had done was so infuriating to Sam that she had yet to forgive them. She then went on the offensive, giving up on extracurricular activities, flunking tests, isolating herself to her room. The anguish she was going through that summer was near lethal to Sam, especially a suicidal streak that had both Danny and Tucker on edge. Sam had slowly recovered, but had never been the same after that, was still in a rebellious war against her parents, and she had become fascinated with the subculture of Goths. As result, much of Sam's beauty was hidden beneath heavy eyeliner and mascara, and her outfit was worlds away from the high fashion she had once worn.

But that simply made Sam all the more 'interesting' to Danny. She was complex, extremely deep, with a high intelligence that went far beyond her mediocre grades and a voice that was as outspoken as it was eloquent. Danny knew that if Sam tried, she could rival his sister in terms of grades and challenge Paulina for top dog on the social scale.

"g'morning" Sam mumbled as she plopped down in the desk next to Danny, her heavy combat boots, net sleeves and all.

"Morning Sam, looks like someone stayed up too late"

"No" Sam growled "Mom and Dad wanted me to use a limo to get to school, so I walked"

Danny raised an eyebrow "That's a walk of nearly 5 miles, how long did it take? Your parents must be up in arms looking for you"

Sam gave a sly grin "I left a note on my bed with the clothes they keep trying to make me wear; I took the liberty of spray painting them black." Sam sniffed "left at around 6:30 this morning and stopped in the park before school to say hi to a family of squirrels living there"

"Your parents are going to call the police out on you one of these days Sam"

"I know, don't care" Sam put her hands behind her head and stretched out, looking content.

"So what's going on this Wednesday? Something at Tanks Stadium downtown?"

Sam nodded "I found out that the Society for Recycling was cleaning the stadium instead of the local boy scouts and thought it would be a good idea to go, plus we get free tickets to the Amity Plungers basketball game"

"Those guys suck, why would Tucker and I want to go there?"

Sam smiled "Ember McLain is playing at half time"

"Cool" Danny remarked "I kind of like her music, what about you?"

"What do you mean, I idolize Ember!" Sam exclaimed "She's somewhere between Goth and punk, but makes great music, and she's…just cool, especially that hair of hers, how she made it to flame like that and get it so blue is just…just…"

"Awesome?" Danny finished

"Yeah" Sam nodded "Besides it's free so we might as well go, it's not like we have really anything else better to do, right Danny?"

But Danny only partially listened, as he was fixating his gaze on Sam's face. Beneath all the mascara and eyeliner, was a young woman that Danny couldn't help but feel attracted too. He was a boy, and like all other mature boys, he was afflicted with the interminable condition of an attraction to women, particularly Sam

"Sam?"

"_Right_ Danny? Hello, still talking to you." Sam said, giving Danny an annoyed look.

"um…Do you have plans for dinner afterwards"

Sam paused, before groaning "Thanks for reminding me Danny, my parents want me to attend that high end business gala that afternoon, dang it, I hate hanging out with those snob kids!"

"I know a place to take you."

Sam halted her groans and cocked her head to take a curious at her friend "are you asking me out Danny?"

"Of course not!" Danny spluttered "I…um…just thought you might…want…too…enjoy some culture. Yeah, I wanted to show you a…uh…Transylvanian restaurant near my house."

"Transylvanian?" Sam asked, almost choking on her laughter "Danny, that's not even a country, but a region of Romania. You don't need to lie"

Danny felt like a trapped squirrel as he attempted to recover the ball "I…meant Romanian!"

"Danny, you're such a bad liar. But sure, why not"

"What?" Danny asked, perking up

Sam laughed "Danny, you're funny, but yeah, that sounds great and it gives me a place to go other than that gala. And it allows me to get out of that horrid dress my parents want me to wear."

_Can you wear it still? _Danny slammed his jaw shut before the thought became words. "Wow, well, thanks we'll go right after we're done at the basket ball game"

"Alright class" came the rather dry voice of Mr. Lancer before Sam could answer "time to start a new day so the faster you listen to me, I assure you; the faster the day will go by."

The class mostly ignored their teacher, and continued to chatter although a handful of students, a bored look in their eyes, gave Mr. Lancer partial attention. Mr. Lancer shrugged and turned to the board "Well, considering that I have the attention of some people, I guess we can start by reviewing for the quiz we have this morning"

The class groaned, while Danny slammed his head on his desk and awaited his fate at the hands of an English quiz, however, he was still lost in thought.

Danny's stomach churned at the simple concept. He had asked Sam out. HE HAD ASKED SAM ON A DATE.

"Idiot, total and complete idiot!" Danny quietly berated himself "Why the heck did you do that. Why am I such a lousy, impetuous, idiot! "

It had been a jump the gun moment, a split second decision that Danny had impulsively gone with, simply blurting out whatever came to mind. The funny thing was, Danny wasn't even really all that in to Sam. Sure, he liked her, but to have the brashness to ask her on a date, this early in his high school career, that was what mystified him. Why in the world had he just gone ahead and done it? Why was he…

Danny began to scratch his scalp in rising worry. He didn't actually have a place to eat, or a way to get there, or any kind of idea that this was going to work! He had to tell his Mom, ask Sam's parents and-ugh what a disaster! He had to think about appearance and…

"Mr. Fenton?"

Danny looked up to see Mr. Lancer addressing him, the slightly overweight teacher standing over his desk, bald head, beard and all that scowled down at him.

"As Galatians 6 states from the Bible, 'you reap what you sow' so if you have studied, I hope this quiz is not that difficult. But it would be nice if you at least grabbed it from the student in front of you. You should at least give an attempt." His voice somewhat biting at Danny's ignorance of the student in the desk in front of him waving a fresh quiz in his face.

"As if this day could get worse" Danny mumbled as he grabbed the quiz, recognizing none of the questions before him.

…..

…...

"_So much for the date" _Danny sadly thought to himself. It was supposed to be tomorrow, although the young teenager had doubts that it would ever become a reality

Danny had managed to move. His non-existent body finally had done something when Danny had pressed his mind to move slightly forward to try to see through the observation glass more clearly. He had pressed his mind more and, inexorably, it appeared that he was moving, or was it drifting?

There had been no response behind the window, no confirmation that who he had spoken with was his mother. At this point, things had become so strange that Danny didn't even care. All Danny could think about was his memories of yesterday. All Danny could consider was how it might have been the last time he spoke to Tucker, or the final moment when he saw Sam's face, or heard his sister's gabbing for the last time, and the oddest of all, felt for the last time Dash shoving him into a locker or failing one of Mr. Lancer's quizzes. Danny now wondered whether he would return to the living world ever again to experience life. No matter how adamant Danny may have at the beginning of the previous day that he hated school, he would rather endure days of school than float, without a body, without a care in an observation room.

The young teenage…mind had by now, lost track of time. It must have been hours by now that Danny had been confined to that room. His initial shock at his new condition had turned to boredom, then irritation, anger, than a lapse back into boredom before finally, Danny was left to sift through his own memories.

He wondered how Sam would react tomorrow to realize Danny wasn't arriving, or how Tucker would call his house incessantly wondering why his Doomed buddy wasn't online, or what Jazz would do in his absence.

Perhaps he was taking this overboard, it wasn't as if he was certain that he was going to be immobilized inside the small room, or that he was dead, he was in a very odd predicament. Danny was just…scared. That's right, he was scared. Scared because he didn't know what was going to happen to him. He was scared because he had no clue how to deal with a situation.

A faint drip somewhere in Danny's cell woke Danny from his intense thinking. Danny then mentally commanded himself to move. "_Come on, just turn, come on, move!" _Danny was satisfied to see his view moving, like the slow turn of the prow of a ship, to the right to give a possible view of the source of the small dripping noise, only to find that his body now refused to stop.

"Come on, come on" Danny spoke aloud, before his body made a halt…completing a 180 degree turn about.

"Just great" Danny growled "This is just all pointless"

He looked at the mirror one way observation window. Still, nothing, not even a speck of dust that Danny could claim as his body reflected back in the window.

Feeling discouraged, the young teenager…his mind at least, tried to close his eyes, surprised when they did, wondering how he could close invisible eyelids.

Danny felt more peaceful in the darkness of his mind. He let his mind wander, hoping to revisit more cheering memories, but only finding that his mind began to sort through his past life. He saw his Dad, remembering a time when his Dad tried to show him a new attempt at making his own fudge, and then Jazz, who had giving him a lecture about hard work and not playing his games constantly, and finally…

"Mom" he softly spoke to himself.

_His mother entered the darkened room, softly stepping as not to make any noise. Danny opened eyes when he felt a warm hand run through his messy head of hair, before caressing his check. "Good night Danny, sweet dreams" he heard before feeling a loving kiss being pressed to his check not covered by his bed sheet. _

"_Good night Mom" he whispered back before turning to try to return the caress. _

_The memory was becoming vivid, Danny felt as if his arm was actually turning and reaching, extending upwards. But as his arm moved, his mother seemed to draw away, the mirage moving just out of reach of his hand. Danny felt frustration rising when his arm extended to its extent, still only mere inches away from his Mom. _

"_Come on, come on" he began to speak with anger. He stretched his arm, higher, longer. But it was just his arm, a somewhat thin human appendage that refused to reach higher. Shock flowed through his mind when it did._

_The shock vanished, replaced by ardent determination, ignoring that his arm was now extending past the limits of his body. Farther and farther, inch by inch, and yet his mother's face remained a lofty and unreachable target. _

_Something in Danny shifted, something was changing. Danny ignored this odd feeling, and continued to extend his hand. Danny pressed harder, his entire being seeming to channel into his hand before…_

_There. Danny was delighted. Why he was reacting that way to touching his mother's face…which sounded very wrong, was beyond Danny. His mother's face vanished in the blink of a eye, before Danny felt a spark of warmth. _

Warmth? Danny's mind halted, as he had actually felt something. All his previous feelings, all but sight had been muted or distorted till then. The warmth, was a human warmth, the warmth of skin touching skin.

Danny opened his eyes and stared at the scene elapsing before him. In the mirror one way observation window, Danny watched as ethereal energy was convalescing out of thin air, green and potent, small flashes of lighting seeming to dash between the glows which centered on where his body should have been, before they began to seamlessly form into clouds, physical clouds of green smoke expanded rapidly in volume, before materializing into…

"_Is That me?" _Danny watched, amazed as a person materialized out of the clouds. Whoever it was, it was alien and exotic. Danny recognized facial features that were nearly identical to his own but everything else was different. Skin pale and translucent, pulsating with an unnatural light just below the surface, all topped by hair that seemed to waver back and forth ever so slightly, as if underwater, but most remarkably was also pulsating, the color shifting subtly from white to a bright silver. The person was also donned in what might have been a jumpsuit, but now seemed to be artificial, a print on the body. Danny was reminded of his Axiom labs jumpsuit, but with the colors inverted, white where there had been black, black where there was white, everything with a slight, shifting glow. To cap it all off were the eyes, two eyes that were so glossy and bright that Danny, for a moment, thought they were but the fakes that they place on manikins. However, the iris was glowing, an indescribable shade of bright green that was as entrancing as it was repulsive and then the pupil which was a bottomless and empty as outer space.

There was no time for more scrutinizing when Danny had an inexpressible visceral feeling that surged outwards and manifested physically as two blinding halos that encased his body and rushed through, both mentally and physically. Danny felt his mind vanish and for a moment, the being of Daniel Fenton was gone from existence before…

"Oomph" Danny felt a sharp pain sting through his skull.

Danny shot up like a cat leaping to catch its prey and landed on his feet. The feeling of slight vertigo washed through Danny before he hauled his mind in and took in his situation.

It was over. Danny looked at Danny in the mirror. His hair, with a slight tinge of oil from a day's accumulation, his face, familiar pimples still adorning his forehead, same old jumpsuit, boots, spandex gloves and all. Daniel Fenton had returned, blemishes, idiosyncrasies, sinful fallacy and all, to the world of humanity.

But there was no time for the expected shock or denial, when a door slammed open and Danny whirled around, to see no-else but his mother, standing, face in anguish, mind thinking at the pace of a jet, muscles tensed.

"This ends now Danny, we are…" his mother paused and took a look at son, working her jaw up and down "we are fixing you"

…..

Divided by dimensions and time itself, Clockwork sighed as he watched. He knew that Danny was beyond fixing, and that Maddie Fenton would pay with her mortal life in her attempt to fix her son.


	8. Maternal

_WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH; READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. _

"_I won't…you can't make me" Maddie gasped as she stared at the writhing figure on the dissection table before her. She glanced around for an escape from the pressing situation, only to see the one exit was blocked by him, his crisp black suit and dress pants seeming to look more sinister than Maddie could have ever imagined a high class outfit to be. _

"_On the contrary my dear Maddie, I most certainly can make you sign this document. And come now, what is it but a few signatures her and there? It's perfectly legal, and in fact, it's a most professional act by my top paranormal scientist"_

_Maddie's eyebrows shot up in surprise as she felt the words reverberate in her head. "Top scientist?" she asked in bewilderment "but I am only a mere researcher, I just enter the numbe…"_

"_I never did like John Klein, he was too…single minded for the head of the Axiom Labs paranormal division" he replied, his oily voice filling with disgust at the thought of Maddie's current superior. "He's been giving an indefinite vacation…without pay and in his absence; you will take his place, IF you sign these papers" _

_Maddie faltered, the lure of the top dog of the Axiom Paranormal wing filling her head, before a whimper of the pained figure before her brought her back to her senses "No, I…I can't, it's a violation of Franz's rights as a worker at Axiom Labs and I can't replace John, I can't fill his shoes. If I sign these papers, I'll be partially lying to the government, no Vlad, sorry but I can't" _

_He sneered, his face turning more malicious, something in his bright blue eyes hinting at malice hiding in his mind "Well them, shall I have to resort to more…base methods, shall we say to…convince you that this is your only choice?" _

_Maddie turned to Vlad Masters, horrified. "What…happened to you Vlad, I can't believe you are resorting to blackmail, especially to me. What happened to the Vlad Masters I knew at the University of Wisconsin who loved the Green Bay packers and had an addiction to Ramon noodles, and would take me places every Friday night? The Vlad Masters I know was ambitious, yes, but never cut throat, especially to sink to this base level of operation to his closer friends" _

_Vlad seemed to freeze, his expression and posture seemingly lost in time, and for a moment Maddie seemed to glimpse a flash of remorse behind those cold yet bright blue eyes, before he smiled, a smile of pure deviousness. "That was a poor Vlad Masters, a college student who had no higher ambitions than to find a girl friend. Then your wretched oaf of a husband spilled that acid in my hair and on my face, and I lost all that innocence and immature foolishness. Oh I have forgiven Jack FENTON" Vlad spat out Fenton "and indeed, I almost want to thank him for literally burning out that early imprudence of my college days. I became a new man, the Vlad Masters that buys, trades, ruins, and builds companies, the Vlad Masters who is in multiple international lists of the wealthy and famous, the Vlad Masters that is worth billions, the Vlad Masters who has become a force in the world on every level from economics to culture. I am Vlad Masters, Maddie. I'm sorry if you don't like me, but I must do what I must do" _

"_For what?" Maddie asked, aghast at the tirade that Vlad had just given to her "To prove your superiority? To make yourself king of the world? To what end are you chasing after Vlad?" _

"_For AUTHORITY Maddie. There is nothing more gratifying to me than to receive word that more is under my command. It is a game, a game of pulling strings. I see why Napoleon kept invading and Caesar continued to influence and gain more control, because there is a lust for power that is a near euphoric experience, but ENOUGH! I have said too much. Thank you Maddie for briefly being my psychologist and letting me give someone a piece of my mind, I feel so much better now." Vlad said with a sarcastic and vicious tone of voice. "and now, sign there" _

"_NO! Vlad, after what you said, I will stand against you since you are a cruel, sadistic, son of a gu…" _

"_Tut tut tut Maddie, such cruel words to an old college mate and love interest of yours. But that is quite enough resistance. Very well, I am afraid to inform you that your bank accounts will be, ever so 'accidentally' liquidated tomorrow and both you and your lovable husband's employment here at Axiom labs terminated for a serious, criminal violation of your contracts in a combined plot to scam my company out of millions. My attorneys are sickened by your acts and have evidence they will take to court and prosecute a successful case. Your names will become synonymous in Amity Park for scandal, making it ever so difficult for you and your husband with your demanding toddler Jasmine and ever so dependent infant Danny, to find employment with all but the most desperate of employers who will make sure to give a low pay. If the more legal path doesn't work, a series of inexplicable accidents will ensure for you, Maddie dear, life will be indeed grim" _

_Maddie was speechless, her face in absolute shock as she stared, unable to wrench her eyes from Vlad who was a good deal taller than her, towering over her trembling form. Vlad was grinning in Grinch proportions, seeming to enjoy the absolute havoc his words were playing on Maddie's mind. _

"_Shall I describe the possible physical dangers that your children may encounter as well?" Vlad spoke, sounding like a child telling a good story _

_Maddie's mouth moved, but no words came out, her mind like a car with its wheels spinning helplessly in the snow. There was a moment of absolute stillness before the words began to pour from Maddie's lips "you can't…you're despicable, evil, you wretched little…I despise you…you are a…you can't!" _

"_Oh but Maddie, look around my companies and realize, I do this all the time. One more person on my black list certainly isn't a challenge. Just be grateful I haven't even considered the arsenal I could use against…"_

"_ALRIGHT! I GIVE IN I'LL SIGN" Maddie shouted, her imagination finishing the job Vlad started. "Just leave and never see me again!" _

_Vlad laughed, seeming to delight in Maddie's state of panic "Oh and one more thing Maddie dear, your dreaming. This may be a dream of your imagination,or a memory of 12 years ago when you did become head researcher at Axiom Labs, but rest assured, imagination and memories aside…I'm coming for your son" _

"ghaaaah!" Maddie shot up in a cold sweat, her heart beat palpable as she breathed hard. Her eyes darted from side to side and looked for Vlad Masters, only to see the non-descript waiting room, a few cheap paintings on the walls, slightly worn chairs that were poorly aligned along the walls, a dead plant in the corner next to the beat up door. And of course, a viewing glass before her that allowed her to see Danny on a hospital bed, a series of white coat doctors and nurses surrounding him as they examined him from head to toe. Around them were a series of machines that had digital readout recording heart rate and other body functions. But her attention was focused on Danny, in the center who was in pain, irises flashing between blue and that sickly green that were battling for dominance, arms literally glowing and occasionally becoming translucent. Most alarming was when his hands, from his normal flesh welled a terrible emerald energy that surged through the skin and distorted the image of his palm and fingers in a swirl of ectoplasm. The doctors were treating Danny as though he had small pox, delicately injecting chemicals and manipulating tools.

Maddie scrunched her eyes shut and buried her face into her arms, squeezing tears from her eyes.

"What have I done Danny, what are you becoming?" she asked in despair. "I must fix you before Vlad finds out"

…

….

Doctor Phoebe Grey's office was spacious and austere, with nothing flashy or an indication of a personal life of the paranormal doctor save a few photos that were plainly framed and sitting on her simple yet functional desk that was surrounded by orderly file cabinets and plain, white dry wall. It went to show that Phoebe Grey was an extremely organized woman, to the point, efficient, and had a keen mind for problem solving that had placed her as one of the finest researchers at the Medical Wing of Axiom Labs, aka Axiom Medical, one of the only paranormal medical centers across the country. It also placed her in conflict with her daughter.

Valerie Grey was nearly as efficient and organized as her mother but preferred to blow problems up, rather than work them through. The 18 year old senior at Casper High school was hot headed, extremely athletic, and couldn't stand her mother's dislike for her extracurricular activities; working closely with her father, Damon Grey.

Working for Axiom labs seemed to run in the family, as Damon Grey worked in a building adjacent to the medical wing; the engineering department. Like his wife, he too was a problem solving person, but liked to build things to solve problems, specifically ghost problems. He designed and executed defensive anti-ghost devices for the local Ghost Investigation and Weapons SWAT team unit, and to that end, used Valerie as a guinea pig of sorts to test new, experimental technology for the GIW; her extracurricular activities. Nothing Damon could have done could have thrilled Valerie more, as her ambitions were to become the leader of the GIW SWAT team and perhaps continue to the director of the National Paranormal and supernatural administration. Much to the appall of Phoebe Grey, who would have liked nothing less than for Valerie to go off to an Ivy league school and forget about undertaking such physically dangerous jobs.

"_MOM! What in the world were you thinking, you forgot to pick up my package from the post office!" _

"Valerie, just calm down, let me expla…"

"_Calm down! I have been waiting for that package for months and need it today! And you just happened to forget to do the simple task of picking it up on you way to work and taking it to work."_

"Valerie, what in the world was in that package?"

"_That's none of your concern." _Phoebe snorted indignantly, her eyebrows furrowing as she began to scowl. "Valerie, I was busy this morning, I had to work on our family's health plan here at work before the deadline, and I am _sorry_ I decided to pick up your package this afternoon, _after _I finished with the daily checkups, but for Pete's sake honey, you can't expect me to put picking up a unknown package at the top of my priority list if I don't know what the heck was in that package! Now Valerie, please tell me, _what was _in that package!"

Phoebe was by now becoming emphatic, her voice rising to a high volume and she could hear Valerie on the other end of the line, her breathing rate increasing as her anger rose _"Mom! You're so nosy, and when I ask something to be done, it should be just simple to do what I ask when I ask, it was just another anti-ectoplasmic knife"_

The Doctor lifted her eyes to the heavens and sighed, mentally asking why she was given such a daughter "Valerie! A _Knife_! You're only 18 and already…"

"_Mom, I don't have the time to get into another debate over what I do INDEPENDENTLY, in my OWN life, and what I buy with my OWN money, and follow my OWN dreams. Stop imposing yourself on me goodbye!" _

The line clicked dead as Valerie Grey spoke with her mother, for the last time.

Slowly, Phoebe Grey placed the phone back in its cradle, a look of remorse and sadness crossing her face as she reflected on her increasingly alien daughter. What had happened to her only child? What had she done wrong? She shook her head slowly, frowning as she removed those depressing thoughts from her mind. Never the less, the renowned paranormal doctor considered, she felt unappreciated. Valerie always had been her father's daughter, and the relationship between Damon and Valerie was close whereas the relationship between her and Valerie was as far apart. But somewhere deep, Phoebe loved Valerie with an unbreakable love that she felt and knew Valerie reciprocated. It was just hard to see sometimes. However, some things were just the way they were, and Valerie was becoming independent after all. Within 2 years, Valerie would hopefully be off to college and by then, she would be her own person. Perhaps trying to hold her back was trying to stop the inevitable.

A tap on Phoebe's shoulder brought her back to reality as she turned to face her fellow co-doctor who had a worried look on his face and said "Phoebe, we need you back in the ER, now; the patient Daniel Fenton, he's destabilizing"

Phoebe Grey was short, plump and quiet. She couldn't stand hysteria or panic, and always had a rather calm demeanor. Therefore when she had received a frantic phone call just 15 minutes earlier, she had been none too happy and even more unsettled when she recognized that the frantic caller. She could recognize the voice anywhere; it was the one and only Maddie Fenton, one of Phoebe's oldest friends and closest. They had known each other for nearly as long as both of them had studied the supernatural, and they had worked and laughed together ever since. They had met in college, graduated together, applied for work at Axiom Labs together, worked as coworkers in the early days of their careers and still treated each other like sisters. Phoebe therefore knew Maddie Fenton well enough to know that when Maddie was in hysterics, it either meant somebody had refused Jack Fenton some fudge and their life was jeopardized by that, or her children were in danger, or in this case, Daniel Fenton had come into Axiom Medical's ER with the highest ectoplasm contamination she had ever seen. He seemed fine at first, but at a second examination everything was wrong. Heartbeat, temperature and breathing rate were haywire, and on the inside, Danny was an unsolved mess that neither Phoebe nor any of her fellow doctors and nurses could help. Now he was physically destabilizing, and Phoebe felt her heart leap into her throat.

"What'd you do!" Phoebe asked quickly as they began to dash back to the Emergency Room.

"He seemed fine, the patient was calm besides his ridiculous body statistics of temperature and heartbeat, so we began the normal ectoplasm decontamination procedure and injected him with a slow drip of the Ecelyne but then he went off the charts. Things are getting dicey in the ER Phoebe, be careful" the doctor replied "We stopped the injection and inserted some anti Vackline but he's only slowly improving. This is not a regular case Phoebe; we're in trouble"

Phoebe nodded and halted her rapid pace as she came to the ER swing doors to take a deep breath and prepare her mind for whatever would happen. With a swish the doors swung back, allowing her to lay eyes on Daniel Fenton who was still squirming in pain, a cry or two slipping from his throat. Green energy seemed to well from the interior of his body before coming to the surface of his skin and snapping out, alarming any person who dared get close. The light themselves were flickering and the equipment was mirroring the chaos, adding sirens and alarms of their own, while the team of medical personal stood around, at a loss of what to do.

"Is he getting better?" Phoebe asked, trying to prevent the anxiety from slipping into her voice

"It is" A nurse replied in fright "2 minutes ago we thought he was going to jump out of bed and, cause trouble or something like that" Phoebe closed her eyes briefly and shut out the world, thinking hard.

"We do nothing" Phoebe proclaimed, to the astonishment of her team. "We'll wait till he hopefully returns to normal and then send him through the ECP asap. I'll be talking to the boy's mother so go on ahead and get him ready for the ECP, but skip the various chemical injections, too risky, and then see me when you are ready"

The team paused, shrugged and then returned to Danny who was apparently, ver gradually, calming down as his spasms became more few while Phoebe brushed them aside and burst into the waiting room, to see Maddie Fenton, her head in her arms.

"Phoebe, we've been friends for so long, and I know you can fix my son, so where's the solution? How come he's only getting worse" She said, voice shuddering and broken up.

Phoebe didn't answer as she walked over, pulled up a chair, and sat down. "he'll be ready for the ECP soon, we're just having some issues with some of the injections we have to give him, he's having something that is analogous to a very bad allergic reaction". Phoebe waited for a reply, and when that didn't materialize as Maddie remained silent, she continued, trying to sound as professional as possible "I will give him a checkup in a few minutes, and if everything checks out, we'll send him to the ECP."

Maddie nodded, slowly raising her head to look at Phoebe. She stared, blinked, the tear marks on her checks painfully obvious, her hair ruffled, all and all showing the mess that she was both physically and mentally in. "It's my fault Phoebe, it's all my fault" She trailed off, repeating the phrase, her mind degrading into a downwards spiral of despair, much to Phoebe's alarm.

"Now now there Maddie it's okay, if what you told me about the accident is true than you're guilty of nothing more than self confidence and bad luck. In a few minutes, you can watch while the ECP hopefully cleanses out any ectoplasm that has bonded to him. By the way, where are all those scientists that were with you earlier?"

"They left, I asked them too and Jim Foley agreed that they would go back and examine the portal for the reason of the accident, I just can't let them watch Danny like he's a rabid dog or something." The auburn haired scientist answered as her voice continued to waver due to inner turmoil. "It's just…it was my invention and the"

Phoebe came up to Maddie as her friend lapsed into despair, gave a sigh and buried her face in her arms again. She affectionately caressed the women's back and looked to the side, attempting to formulate a way to console her, when Maddie feebly whispered "I'm scared Phoebe, I'm afraid he'll find out"

"Who?" Phoebe gently asked. Moving her gaze to Danny through the glass, watching as he slowly calmed down from his reaction to the chemicals.

In a whisper that trembled, and was so quiet that Phoebe prayed that it was her imagination, her long time friend whispered "Vlad Masters"

In the past, Phoebe had listened to Maddie's fears, her anxieties and frustrations while Maddie had done visa versa for her. Over the years, both women had become familiar with each other on a close level. Therefore, the name 'Vlad Masters' struck a chord of fear, due to the fact that Maddie, over the years had confided her greatest terror. It wasn't a monster, criminal in the night, but someone that Phoebe knew little about, a man named Vlad Masters. Phoebe had learned that Maddie had once known a happy go lucky Vlad during college, when a lab accident somehow changed him. Now, Maddie had told Phoebe, that Vlad Masters was more a monster than man, with a mind conditioned only to search for power. He moved like a snake and struck with the force of a enraged bear. Story after horror story Maddie had leaked to Maddie, to the point that Phoebe feared Vlad almost as much as Maddie did. She had never seen Vlad, the only personal knowledge being that he was an important figure somewhere high in the chain of command of Axiom Labs, and that Maddie held his name synonymous with as much tyranny and terrible influence as the great dictators of the Second World War.

Phoebe grabbed Maddie by the shoulders and forced her to look into her eyes. "Maddie, if its Vlad Masters you fear, than we must move fast; I'll have Danny moved to the ECP regardless of the consequences."

Maddie could only nod hopefully "it's good to have a friend who understands"

…..

…..

"Argghhhh!" Danny yelled as another spasm rocked his body, muscles tensing and locking up as the pain continued on, interminably. One moment he was in the observation room, the next his mother had literally dragged him out and strapped him to a hospital stretcher, and then wheeling it rapidly to some doctors and nurses who were trying to inject chemicals into him. Following that was pain, as if he hadn't had enough from the accident.

Danny did know that whatever was going on was entirely unnatural. Between the black outs of stings and electrifying shocks that seemed to drag on for hours on end, Danny could see with his blurred vision that his body was fading in and out of visibility, green glows erupted beneath the skin and shot out reminding him of solar flares that arched from the surface of the sun. Besides the pain, the sensations he was experiencing had left him in a state of total confusion. Chills that felt they were from the arctic blasted through his body at what felt like gale force winds while other alien feelings bounced around inside of him, seeming to flow through his heart before surfacing near his skin and then diving back down like fish playing through his organs. More than ever Danny wanted out, to escape the repeating cycle of pain, terror, confusion, and then pain again. The worst was the mental cycles, and Danny imagined himself looking into the face of death and then torture, two subjects that seemed to manifest themselves in his mind and laughed at him, tempting him, encouraging him too unleash some terrible will within him and destroy all that inflicted him.

Slowly, it subsided, the throbs of emotions and pain combined being muffled and softened. Danny managed to squeeze his eyes and take a blurry view of his surroundings, seeing a collection of fuzzy figures around him. He seemed to recognize a single one.

"Mom!" Danny cried out in inquiry, in a voice laced with pain, but unable to express a single question on his mind; why? Why was this happening? When would it end? He had come for another boring day at Axiom Lab's bring your child to work day, not a day when Danny lived through the worst pain he had ever imagined possible.

….

…

"Mom!" Danny cried out, and Maddie shrunk back. That voice! It was filled with accusation, question, pain and suffering. A physical manifestation of everything Maddie feared her son was experiencing. She turned her eyes away and looked to Phoebe for comfort, wanting to fall into her arms and let a lake of tears spring forth.

"Don't worry Maddie, the pain for him will be over soon alright, no need to weep" Phoebe hushed as she embraced Maddie, odd considering how much taller the other woman was. "Do you think it's safe Phoebe" she asked, still in their embrace, to which Phoebe returned in a firm voice "whether it's safe or not, it's worth a try"

But Maddie had doubts. The famous or infamous ECP looked like a cat scan, worked like a cat scan except for some subtle differences. Rather than a scan, it was a purification device, hence the name **E**ctoplasmic **C**ontamination** P**urification machine. Nicknamed, the 'Fenton guillotine', it rose from ceiling to floor, a stark white and plastic machine with several displays and controls that permitted the machine to be set at various settings. At the center was the 3 foot wide tunnel that allowed a rolling bed to slide a patient through the tunnel and out through the other side, rather than back and forth like a cat scan. The most important difference between a generic cat scan and the rather hazardous ECP was a within the laser, a full 2 feet wide at the center of the tunnel under which the unfortunate subject would be moved, a laser that would dissolve any offending ectoplasm that might have bonded to organic cells in the body, or in other more unusual cases, terminate a possessing ghost all together.

The machine had been built to treat post-exorcism patients and eliminate any remaining ectoplasm that was left residue from the harrowing experience of being overshadowed by a ghost. Ectoplasm typically reacted with organic cells like oil and water do; they repel. But for long term victims of possession, it was hazardous to have any remaining supernatural matter remain, and the ECP was a quick and effective method to deal with that. An alternative use was for possessed victims where the exorcism was considered too risky to try, and the ECP literally acted as a guillotine for the invading ghost; dissolving it.

Maddie would have been worried about the device regardless of the state her son was in, no matter what case or scenario necessitated the machine's use, because it hurt. And pain was something which Maddie was trying to prevent any more of to Danny, who was just starting to calm down, his body falling limp, his face becoming more peaceful.

Phoebe nodded to Maddie reassuringly as she punched in the necessary numbers into the ECP's controls, a faint whirring indicating the machine's preparations for the grim task of attempting to expel any and all ectoplasm from Danny's body.

Running her hand through her son's messy hair, Maddie sighed, looking over her son in anxiety. Was this all her fault? She was glad she had sent Jim Foley, Ben Marse and the rest of the team away to investigate the portal and why perhaps it had activated so prematurely, but she knew on the inside that if Danny was not fixed of his-condition soon, he would become a scientific specimen, chained as a living experiment in the name of science. Deep within her, the scientist was screaming and complaining due to her desire to explore such a treasure trove of possible discovery, and Maddie knew well what might possibly be lying before her. She had seen, like her coworkers, her son transform, perhaps on sheer accident, his body from bands of a strange ectoplasm that the scientists back at the observation room had never picked up or seen before into what seemed to be organic matter. It neither made sense nor could it be the least explained by any theory that Maddie, her fellow coworkers, or possibly any paranormal expert in the world had drawn up.

"m-mom" Danny turned over and opened bleary eyes on his mother, his voice a croak. "Shush Danny, just go to sleep" Maddie whispered back. If there was anything that was keeping her stable, it was the thought of Danny, and the memories of the good and bad times with him. She sat on the rolling bed that would take Danny through the ECP and hopefully cure him and stroked her son's hair. Her heart was heavy, filled with accusations of negligence and stupidity for letting this happen to Danny, yet she smiled to see her son, resting, eyes shut.

"Well, if I believe what I saw" Maddie mused aloud, albeit quietly and to herself "I guess, Danny, you are some strange hybrid between a ghost and human" Maddie felt a pang in her heart of more guilt over what was her fault "but no matter what" She leaned down to whisper in Danny's ear, in spite of whether he heard or not, "monster or angel you might become" Her heart felt as if it were sinking like a stone in the deep ocean, a thousand voices in her head chanting the accusation of lack of maternal care "I will, and always will, and do love you so" Maddie fought to work the words out. Something within her, much to her disgust, was repelled by the thought of loving a freak. _But you're my freak, you're my son and nothing changes that! _She thought in a final definitive thought that seemed to cap those other ideas of culpability. She would carry on, as a mother does.

"We're ready Maddie" Phoebe tapped her on the shoulder

"Is it safe?" Maddie asked, still gazing at her son.

Something within Phoebe was the opposite of Maddie's thoughts, ones of extreme foreboding. She had used the ECP many times in the recent past and knew just how to work that machine like a pianist can use a piano. But with a patient like Daniel Fenton, Phoebe felt like it was like trying to play piano to sheet music for a violin. He was a strange case with no precedent, and Phoebe was not actually using medical pre-knowledge to send Danny through, she was simply using the procedure they used with all other patients. Wasn't she rushing? She hadn't taken full and proper stats on Danny's exact condition, although the ones she had managed to collect were wrong from even a lay man's glance.

Phoebe looked at a sheet one of her fellow doctors had drawn up after their first limited examination on Danny. They had given the basics, but Danny was indicating an alarmingly low heart rate, a low breathing rate to accompany that, and more significant was a fluctuating temperature. His internal body temperature was fluctuating with the environment temperature, almost as if he was cold blooded.

_We don't have time _Phoebe reminded herself. Maddie had instilled in her a sense of urgency; the sooner Danny was well, the better. Her tender looks directed at Danny reinforced that train of thought. Phoebe didn't want to spoil a family life, or at least be indirectly responsible for doing so. No, she had to go through with this.

"If Danny is anything like previous cases, its safe enough" Phoebe spoke confidently. _Hopefully _she mentally added. Pulling her friend away, Phoebe Grey motioned for a nearby nurse to inject the sedative that would neutralize any reaction from Danny till he had passed through the tunnel.

"errr w-what?" Danny groaned as the nurse came up and swabbed his arm with disinfectant, found the vein and before Danny gathered his wits, injected the sedative.

"Bye bye son" Maddie cooed and waved good bye as Danny took a final, bewildered look at his mother before falling into a sedative induced sub-consciousness.

Phoebe put her hand on Maddie's shoulder and squeezed, smiling as she saw Maddie's motherly affection for her son rise to a climax. A final push of a button and the ECP engaged, humming as the laser inside the tunnel flickered on and grew bright in intensity, a warning light flashing above the tunnel opening an exterior indication of the machine's activation. With a shudder, the sliding bed began to move slowly towards the tunnel, carrying an inert Daniel Fenton towards the bright beam of energy meant to purify him of ectoplasm. Phoebe guided Maddie away, regular procedure to allow the machine to operate in solitude, noticing how she never took her eyes off Danny, and moved her out of the room.

Inside the tunnel, Danny moved slowly, the bed transporting him into the darkness of the tunnel, only illuminated by the green laser which hummed, getting ever nearer to Danny's head.

Unfortunately, one fact that Phoebe Grey, the lead researcher at Axiom Medical, had overlooked was the fact that machine was regulated to purify subjects with up to a 10% contamination rate. The machine had never been built with the motive in mind to destroy a potent ectoplasmic entity, or at least a hybrid of one.

The laser touched Danny's head, and upon contact, Danny's eyes shot open, iris and pupil gone and replaced with that eerie green that filled the entire eye. His body was faced with a device that was attempting to rip Danny in half, a lethal action, and without his mind's consent, Danny's body took action on its own, either the machine would triumph and kill Danny, or Danny would destroy the machine, in a move no-one could have anticipated.

…

…..

A local bank, single story, built in the 1980's with a sparsely filled parking lot and its name modestly displayed in plastic lettering on the concrete front wall captured the image that would literally shake Amity Park and much less the entire nation for days to come through a small, very basic security cam that happened to have its electronic eye trained on the Axiom Labs compound less than a quarter of mile away up the street from the bank.

Just 10 seconds can change everything, and within the 10 fateful seconds on that wintery and bitterly cold night, at 5:36 PM that fateful evening, Axiom Medical was wiped off the face of the earth, and the rest of the Axiom Labs complex didn't fare much better. At least the other buildings remained standing, a feat in comparison to the utter destruction that Axiom Medical met at the hands of a 14 year old teenager with black hair and blue eyes that was unconscious.

The microphone on the security cam delivered the first indication of the disaster, a noise sounding somewhere between ripping paper and shattering glass. Witnesses to the event reported differently saying it was a combination between the howl of the wind and the howl of a wolf. News reporters would dub it the 'ghostly wail' but whatever the sound was, it was the result of the sound that rocked the city.

A green wave of energy, actually several of them radiated in second intervals off the Axiom Medical Wing, reminding some witnesses of the northern lights, except brighter in their pallor and intensity. Dissipating nearly at the bank's front door, their effect was disastrous. The security cam watched and recording as Axiom Medical disintegrated. First the long lines of inset windows went, shattering in explosions of glass, followed by the wall cladding that cracked and tumbled off the walls, which came down themselves just milliseconds later, fragmenting and devolving into an avalanche of a mixture of glass, concrete and general rubble. A second after that, the building collapsed in it's entirely. The entire building, not designed to withstand the ectoplasmic assault it was under, wavered and stood briefly before falling to the ground, the matrix of steel beams giving way to gravity, crashing to the ground while the view was quickly obscured by the rolling clouds of debris and dust that billowed out from the base of the collapse. The clouds of dust came down the street and the security cam became useless as the sun was blotted out by the haze that turned day momentarily into night.

For a second, all was silent and dark as the security cam continued to film, doing its duty even when there was nothing to see. Half a minute passed before the dust began to settle, light filtering through the great folds of dust that drifted away and putting that area of Amity Park awash in the pale, afternoon light.

When the dust settled, Axiom Medical was gone, in its place a enormous pile of destruction, twisted I-beams and rebar, broken concrete slabs, shattered microscopes and beakers, files and papers lost forever amidst the obliteration, and more rubbish that remained after the event. The rest of Axiom Labs stood, if just barely. Many of the once proud buildings of the complex were reduced to steel skeletons; others were stripped bare of their walls, their crumbling floors deemed structurally compromised by engineers for days to come.

Incredibly, the Ghost Portal Containment building stood, its massive concrete walls meant to hold an explosion within inadvertently preserving the building almost intact, the portal continuing to operate along with the team of paranormal scientists that had survived in the bunker like building, including Jim Foley, Ben Marsen, Dom Leoson, and Christina Dease. Also among the survivors that day was Jack Fenton, who was seen darting in and out of the office complex of Axiom Labs carrying injured coworkers to safety. His actions were mirrored by Valerie and Damon Grey who had a dramatic escape from their destroyed workspace in the engineering wing. Not among the survivors was nearly the entire medical staff, including Maddie Fenton and Phoebe Grey, their bodies never recovered despite the near superhuman efforts of the cleanup crew to search the wreckage.

It was a nightmare for the emergency services of Amity Park, the phone lines tied up in a matter of minutes as dozens of phone calls flooded the 911 number, some from within the ruined complex itself, most from the rest of the city as they saw the massive plume of dust and destruction rise into the sky where the city's biggest employer had once been. Fire departments from other counties were called in to assist, and hospitals miles away sent aid. The police department nearly had their entire force mobilized within 10 minutes of the disaster, followed by news crews which descended like vultures to a carcass from cities far and wide.

Several miles away from Axiom Labs, in a forrest clearing marked for land development by a home builder company, on top of a bed of snow and partially rotted leaves from the previous fall, Daniel Fenton appeared in a swirl of green, asleep and totally unaware of the mayhem which he caused unfolding within ear shot and seen from the hill where he was on. He was guiltless of his act…but he would pay dearly for it.

….

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ughghgkjkhd! Sorry I was just throwing up at how terrible this chapter is! Ugh…hate this chapter like the plague. Don't even know why I started it this way. Anyway, its kinda important to the plot and oh yeah, be wary of character death at the end. Have fun, if you can with this wretched chapter. It has problems and issues. But thank you to Pixie Dust of Doom who I thank most heartily for the sorely needed review, Kiomori who I hope sees what happens, Samara , the famous and great Prophet of Greed who I must say has been instrumental in this story in terms of encouragement, and the wonderful __Biisaiyowaq__ who is one of my favorite chronic reviewers in this story __. You guys make my day and…(sniff) you're just so wonderful! (cries in delight) But now the story should pick up so stay tuned for the next installment of 'can't run nowhere to hide'. Sorry if there was so little Danny in this chapter, he'll be around soon enough. _


	9. Unexplained

….

The faint bulge of the pupil under the skin shifted slightly before the eyelid slipped open, the iris contracting. The bright light was blinding for a second before focusing, to show the clear and brilliantly blue sky directly above his head, clouds being non-existent in the morning firmament. Sounds filtered in, the sharp and high pitched chirp of birds in the vicinity, the sway and creaking of trees next to him and the rustling of frozen wild grass, before the far off cry of an emergency vehicle was acknowledged, a high pitched siren synonymous with trouble.

Blink

A shiver resulted from the extremely cold feeling that was infused from the skin to the inner organs of the body, very little halting the extreme frigid arctic air from robbing the body of any heat it had left. A blast of wind whistled past and seemed to reinforce the extreme cold that dominated. Far overhead, a small dot swam into few, long contrails of vapor appearing behind it, the signature of a high flying jet airliner that crossed the distant sky, a reminder of the work of man even in his extreme solidarity.

Danny was alone and very cold, his mind blank and void of thoughts as he laid there in the bank of snow, simply letting his senses feed him the world. He felt free from guilt or pain, exhaustion and lethargy, and simply was. The serenity of his near vegetable state was a wonderful feeling, lasting but a blissful moment before it all came crashing down.

He was outside, alone, having previously been in a advanced ghost laboratory, underwent a laboratory accident while his mother had done all within her power to save him from a unknown condition before he remembered-nothing. A memory blank manifested itself as a stern mental wall that halted the thought process, before a new one commenced.

How was he, and more importantly, how did he get outside? Was he alive? (Which by now, Danny might have accepted that he could have very well passed through death) and if he was alive, did he have frostbite?

Blink

The neurons began to fire more rapidly as the brain engaged fully. He had never awoken without a roof over his head. Never had he awaken without even walls around him. He had slept outside, but in a tent. Something was off, wrong. Mentally, he felt as if a whole new section of his brain was opening up, a half that was strange and alien, cold and teeming with a strange power hidden within him.

He slowly propped himself up, the spinal bones clicking into place as Danny took a good view around him, trying to get perspective about his situation.

Was he in…a hospital gown? Danny lifted a black eyebrow as he grabbed a pinch of the thin cloth and studied it, wondering faintly how he hadn't succumbed to the intense cold. He felt extremely cold, but did it really bother him? Come to think of it, he felt cold, but not freezing.

Less than 48 hours ago, Danny had groggily awoke to a blaring alarm clock, which was normal. Rolled out of bed, brushed his teeth and threw on clothes, grabbed his bag and marched outside with a jacket, all perfectly normal for a school morning. He then came to school and had a boring day, getting mediocre grades and struggling to fight against the social caste system. All normal.

In only a fraction of the next 24 hours after that day, Danny had been dragged to Axiom Labs after being given an excused absence at school (how his Dad had done that was beyond him, Mr. Lancer hated absentees) That was somewhat out of the ordinary but at least Danny anticipated it. Then his mother came along (strike 1) dragged him into a retro jump suit (Strike 2) and showed him a massive machine that she built which thereafter zapped him half to death (strike 3). In only a fraction of the last 24 hours, Danny had changed irrevocably. He had awoken after his accident into a new world, without body, floating in an observation cell. His mother than attempted to reverse his new 'condition' and that was his tale. One If he was telling his tale, by this time, things would have become so bizarre that even Sam would have trouble believing him. It was a story that Danny feared was only beginning.

Could he go on like it never happened? Had he been changed so much in less than half a day that it couldn't be reversed? Danny sat and considered this. He hoped not. But at this point, hope seemed to be the only thing pushing him through the strangeness of his life which had so abruptly turned onto an unknown road.

'_The only thing now is…I guess to move on.' _Danny thought before drinking in the view before him. He was on a small snow covered hill, and before him was Amity Park, in its entirety.

He had done a report on the city once, and even done well on it. Founded as a fishing village on the Lake, and as a rest stop for fur traders from Wisconsin shortly after the War of 1812, as settlers poured into the Midwest of North America, even back then, there were strange reports about the city. The oldest settlers had rumored there was a lake monster that resided in the area, and during the American Civil War, wives reported their husbands returning home, visiting before leaving forever, after they had been killed in action far south.

Despite the myths that surrounded the city, it had grown. A rail line stretching from there to the city of Chicago not far south brought great wealth during the latter half of the 19th century, and Amity Park had always been beautiful place to live. Well, it seemed that way the way Danny was seeing it.

The sun was rising, brilliant and beautiful as it revealed Amity Park in its quiet snowy glory. The streets crossing the land below the hill Danny was on like some massive spider web, an interstate diving the city like a thick canyon that wove its course through the heart of the city, an artery of an endless stream of cars, dividing the countless snow covered buildings, many with a small amount of vapor rising from heating units and chimneys. Towards the city center, the buildings doubled in size, the downtown high rises standing stark and austere. Far off Danny could see Casper High in a more wooded area, as he noticed Dash Baxter toss a football on the field before school.

Wait? He could see that?

Danny shrugged. By now, he was starting to become immune to strange things occurring to him. Ironically, strange was becoming normal. It wasn't the last time Danny would think that. The strange feeling within him seemed to stir slightly when something flashed his vision, a partly transparent wisp of grey that moved across his vision.

The cold focused in his lungs, converging and surging, till his breath seemed to freeze over, fogging before him in a blast of vapor. Danny coughed as he attempted to expel the strange sensation from his body. He took a closer look at the wisp of grey before silently breathing out a single word.

"wow" Danny mentioned as he scrutinized the strange sight. It might have been a women at one point, but was now was more like a twisting dress that fluttered in the wind, passing through.

"A ghost?" Danny shook his head. Ghosts didn't roam the world without attention. Why hadn't anybody else seen it?

Turning his attention away, mentally shrugging, he got to his feet, still feeling slightly off for waking up in the woods, before walking down the slope, down towards the city.

"This is so surreal" Danny remarked in disbelief. A road far below him seemed to promise a slight bit of safety as Danny continued his way downwards, treading carefully over the slick snow that threatened to send him tumbling to the bottom.

…..

The aging car, pale rouge paint peeling and heavily faded, the engine rattling and wheels slightly deflated, turned the corner as the Valerie Grey simmered in the driver's seat. She was a maelstrom of contemplation, barely paying attention to the mostly empty road and stirring over deep thoughts. Her eyes were puffy and red, indication of the turmoil raging within her, her lips a thin tight line, her hands squeezed on the stirring wheel till the knuckles were white. Every thought was devoted to her mother.

She denied it. She couldn't accept the fact that her mother was almost for sure dead. DEAD! In the grave, passed to the great kingdom beyond! It was unthinkable. Her mother? That nagging woman that she had been in conflict with for the last 10 years was gone? That woman that had given birth to her, clothed and fed her, paid every expense and…

Valerie fought back the tears desperately. The most torturing feeling within her was the guilt that weighed upon her shoulders. Those accusing thoughts that told Valerie that she was the most ungrateful child that had every existed. The fact that you don't realize what you got till it's gone.

Immersed in her own mind, she hardly noticed the boy, coming down the hill, pale and in a hospital gown of all things, desperately waving her down till the last moment.

"What the…whooah!" Valerie exclaimed as she swerved to the right to avoid hitting the teenager that had meandered into her path.

Valerie stared in near disbelief. The car slowed to a halt as she stared at the strange boy. What was he doing, hauling out of the woods with nothing but a hospital gown on! It wasn't even close to 0 degrees Celsius outside and he was coming, barefoot out of the snow covered hills with a hospital gown on?

She leaned over and cranked the partially cracked side window down, the handle protesting under her firm grip.

"Can I help you?" Valerie shouted to the boy, who seemed less cold and more happy to see her.

"Hey, you're Valerie…you know me, Daniel Fenton from school?" He shouted back in a hopeful voice.

Valerie tried to recognize him, his messy black hair and wide eyes bringing up no matches as she mentally flipped through a catalogue of people she knew at school before dragging up a klutzy nobody that she occasionally she caught staring at her in the hallways.

"Sure I know you Danny but in the heaven's name are you doing out here, don't you realize what's going on?" Valerie asked, becoming highly agitated

He stopped, struggling with some untold emotion that flashed across his face. His expression then turned blank.

"I dunno"

"WHAT!" Valerie felt her vocal chords protest at the extent they had been pulled. "YOU don't know! That's ALL you can say!" she yelled incredulously. "Have you been sleeping under a ROCK? Haven't you heard? ARE YOU INSANE?"

"HEY slow down there" Danny nearly stumbled backwards as the verbal assault came blasted him, Valerie's aqua green eyes being a excellent stand in for lasers as they bore holes through his skull. "Look Valerie, I know it's strange and weird and all, but I woke up in the snow this morning with no idea how I got there." Silently he laughed at himself. Of all the answers to give, did he have to give the truth so bluntly?

Valerie stared at Danny as if he were a zombie, mouth agape and eyes half lidded, mentally swearing she was dreaming. Danny stared back with a sheepish half smile on his face, mentally swearing that he was in a dream. He had given up on acting rationally, when his life had gone in the opposite direction of seeming rational. The chances that she would believe him were 10 to none but at least she might be willing to take him to the insane asylum. And drop him off at home along the way.

The moment of pause lasted for several more seconds of two teenagers staring at each other.

HONK!

Valerie snapped out of her stupor and looked back to a car waiting behind her, before looking back and pursing her lips.

"Get in" she ordered, jamming a thumb towards the passenger seat, not waiting to see whether the driver in the rear would intervene.

Danny raised his eyebrows in surprise before shrugging and complying. Walking over and hopping in, taking the opportunity before Valerie changed her mind. He was just beginning to realize the generosity of the action. The fact that a senior girl that barely knew him besides the fact that their mothers were age old friends and they went to the same high school, had allowed him to ride with her, looking like he had broke out from a mental institute with his hospital gown and all, was in itself a incredible thing. He was certainly grateful, but still a little confused why she was so willing to just give him a ride.

The rickety beater rattled up to speed as they began their way down the twisty rode and into the city itself.

"So" Danny asked hesitantly "you're being pretty generous to give me a ride"

"You really don't know do you?" Valerie sternly asked, hands gripped on the wheel tightly. "Usually I wouldn't think twice about giving you a ride in any circumstance but right now, I am making an exception because of your mother. And mine."

"What?" Danny asked, an ominous feeling caving into his chest.

A red light up ahead brought the car's momentum to a slow halt, the slush of a past snow fall splashing up into the vehicle's wheel wells. Valerie ensured the car had halted before turning to Danny, who was taken aback by the intensity of her glare.

"There was an explosion, or something yesterday Danny, at Axiom Labs, that presumably killed my mom. And yours."

"WHAT!"

….

The sun gleamed as it rose over the roofs, casting the morning shadows off as the Fenton's house was finally exposed to the day light, the ancient house with its striking façade of brick all topped with the old fashioned molded iron windows and the rather flamboyant FENTON name spelled out in ply board cut outs on the flat roof. An odd, rickety medal shack also proclaimed the house to be in possession of the Fentons, well known in the neighborhood as a project by Maddie Fenton to build her own outdoor laboratory. The whole family had become attached to it, Jack going as far to nickname the poorly erected collection of corrugated aluminum and plywood 'The Fenton Ops center'. At this point however, Jack Fenton had lost any creativity and his typical ebullience.

"_This morning the President made a new press report on the upcoming plan for troop deployments in Afghanistan that may have both liberals and conservatives confused, as well as a new military budget plan." _

"_And also in the news, the East digs out after a severe blizzard that continues to make its way into Canada after depositing nearly 2 feet of snow in Washington, just another concern for the Congress as the President prepares to make the State of the Union address" _

"_But first, our continuing coverage of the explosion in Amity Park that has killed over a hundred people at Axiom labs where experts believe the lab's paranormal research division may be responsible. All of this coming up in Morning Start" _

_THEME MUSIC_

_From ANB News, this is Morning Start with Nick Larter and Mary Sindle. Live from studio 1C in Rockefell…_

STATIC

"_And Local 12 action news wishes a fresh start for Amity Park this morning, despite the continuing investigation and cleanup around Axiom Labs. Which takes us to our early morning traffic report with Sandra in the Local 12 helicopter flying over I-90, so how is it Sandra?" _

"_Well the interstate is flowing fine, but it's around Corinth and Elms Street where commuters might want to take a detour as the police still has a 4 block shutdown around Axiom Labs where…_

STATIC

"_This is CMN news, good morning Chicago we're here at town hall as the election for the mayor kicks off his campaign, but first back at the studio, we have a breaking news report on the cleanup of the Amity Park explosion in which 121 people we…" _

"Dad?"

Jack Fenton wearily turned his gaze on his daughter, who stood, solemn, with a slight twitch in her moistened eye, the tear marks painfully visible.

"School was delayed this morning because of the" she paused, her brain fighting off some deep thoughts "incident. School starts at 9:30 instead of 8:00"

Jack Fenton merely nodded, before returning to the television, silent as he had been the entire night. Jazz inspected her father, noticing how much older he seemed, the creases on his face darkened, the grey hairs of his head seeming to be more numerous than ever before. He was still in his orange dress shirt from the day before, the tie carelessly discarded on the coach.

His mind was gone, buried back at Axiom labs. He had seen the signs; he had heard the whispers of his coworkers that something had gone wrong, but had remained engrossed in his work, at his desk, preparing a presentation for his manager to the last second when it had hit. The entire office had turned into ruins in split seconds. The next thing Jack knew was that he was carrying his injured coworkers out of the office as firefighters worked their way past him back into the complex to extinguish fires that were beginning to spread.

He wasn't sure when he had begun to worry about his wife and son, but by the time he had gotten home, covered in the ruin of his workplace from head to toe, hope was already beginning to fade. He had sat down, turned on the television and waited for the survivor lists to come up on the news. He waited for the names of Maddie and Daniel Fenton.

And waited…

And waited…

It was clear by the time the sun began to peep over the hills that Jack had probably lost half of his family.

The simple concept was mind staggering. Were all those memories, all those experiences with Maddie as they had bumbled their way through a relationship, gone like a released balloon in the sky? Were those times of intimacy like a dream? Was her often cheery but sometimes stern face now only but an image imprinted in the past?

The questions were on a loop in his head, pounding as his psyche struggles with their complexity and magnitude. The TV was merely a buzz in the background. The darkened room deathly quiet, only the soft ticking of a clock reminding Jack that he was still alive.

DING DONG

The classic sound of the doorbell hardly phased Jack, and only his eyes darted to the door for a second in acknowledgment before lapsing back into mental isolation

DING DONG

"I'll get it!" Jazz's voice echoed through the house as she walked down stairs.

"Hello? Valerie? What are you doing here?"

"I believe I have something of yours"

"DANNY!"

Jack whipped his head to the sight of Jazz embracing his son, with an African American young woman standing over them with an unreadable expression on her face. Eyes widening, Jack got off the coach and slowly began to approach the front door, silently praying that it wasn't a dream.

Danny's face was hidden by Jazz's flowing red hair, but she pulled off to reveal Danny. Tears and anguish adorned his face, his eyes clouded over. But it was Danny.

Valerie stood to the side, feeling a bit awkward as the three remaining members of the Fenton family devolved into a hug and tear fest, Jack practically smothering his kids with his large girth.

She sighed, trying to ignore the dam of emotions that were bottled up in her heart, trying to remain composed and calm as she waited patiently. She couldn't help but envy the family scene that was breaking out in front of her, and the fact that Danny was seemingly back from the grave for Jazz and their father. Her mother was never coming home, unlike Danny, and at least the Fentons would have something to be grateful for. She and her Dad would only be left with bitter regrets and unrelenting mourning, a woeful mix of misery and grief for months to come.

It was a moment of introspection for Valerie, her mind brooding on her life. It was a rare moment when one's life is put in perspective and Valerie was broken on what she saw in herself.

Mentally looking at herself in the mirror, she listed out the things that would describe her. Ambitious, Athletic, loyal and persistent, strong willed and unbending, determined and diligent. She was a young women that had a Casper High sports dynasty, setting records and proving to the world that Valerie Grey was a force to be reckoned with. Two loving parents that had given her everything she needed to be a compliment to them. And now…

It was ruined, dashed, and marred. No Phoebe Grey to argue with, to prove wrong, to be admonished by. No mother to silently admire her strengths. No more Doctor Grey to fix her up mentally and physically in times of her struggles at school. Gone. Because of an accident. Gone because someone or something had made a mistake. That image of herself and her family was now destroyed by something beyond her control and something that teased her, beckoning her to find out what it was.

A new train of thought began to roll in her mind.

Her thoughts darted to her own father, and the state of grief he was in. She thought of how the Fentons, though Danny was back, would never be the same, thanks to the fact that Maddie probably was never coming home. Above all, she thought of her mom, and how she was most likely as gone as chaff in the wind.

"Mr. Fenton?"

"Yes?" Jack lifted his head, a sincere smile on his face, the light having returned to his eye.

"I promise you, I will find out who or what caused this, and I will not rest till I do, got it?" She said slowly and carefully, branding the words into her mind and soul.

"Sure…did you happen to find my wife with Danny?" Jack asked, with a burning hope buried within his seemingly calm voice.

"No" Valerie said blankly "I'm…I'm sorry Mr. Fenton"

"Oh" Jack's smile fell, before giving a sigh, a long and beleaguered sigh that exposed his true exhaustion. "I can't…express" Jack was overcome with some deep seated emotion that came to his mind "how thankful I…"

"No need to thank me Mr. Fenton, save that for when I find out the culprit" Valerie said with force behind her voice "But I would like to talk to Jazz"

"Jazz? No need to ask, just…"

"Alright Dad, why don't you go get some sleep" Jazz butted in, squeezing her way through the door frame to confront Valerie "I need to talk to her as well…where did Danny go?"

Jack looked around, backing off. He shrugged "I suppose to get some real clothes on, I'll go talk to him" He turned and began up the stairs, his footsteps heavy but his posture straight, even with the exhaustion of a sleepless night weighing heavily upon him. Jazz was satisfied to see that her father had truly come home, not just in body, but in mind as well. She herself felt more whole. At least her brother was home. Losing both him and Maddie would be nearly…nearly too much to bear. Speaking of which…

"Jazz, you probably would like to know just why Danny showed up in a hospital gown." Valerie said bluntly.

She probably had it in her genes to be curious, it came from her mother, and Jazz nodded as she looked back, the questions blooming into her mind about her brother. Such as how he had escaped Axiom labs before the explosion and where and how Valerie had found him and how, a thousand more questions that began to burn within her head.

"We need to talk Valerie"

….

….

He felt empty, cold, alone, culpable, deserving of severe punishment. The heat was long in coming despite Danny crawling under the covers and donning some sweat pants and a sweater. The tears refused to halt, a long train of ice cold droplets that voyaged down his checks and fell into his pillow. The buildup of emotions within his head was released and he felt each one leaving his mind painfully, the scenes of yesterday nearly too hard to bear.

It was bad enough that his Mom was gone, but a horrible feeling of being the reason for her being dead was worse. And if Valerie was right, if it was true that a section of Axiom Labs had been destroyed in a ghost explosion, notably the medical wing where he had been before he blacked out, he could possibly be the reason why there was over a hundred people that were dead at Axiom Labs. Because he was some sort of accident, a freak, an uncontrolled monster. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him, but somehow something told him that he had the ability to wreck that sort of havoc.

The worst of all was that it was still there. That restless and alien sensation locked within him that if he was silent, he could literally hear whispering to him, promising power. Why couldn't he just go back to normal? He didn't freaking want this! None of this was supposed to happen.

"Danny?" His father's gruff voice filtered through the closed door, sounding tired but relieved. "Danny boy, can I come in?"

"Go away" Danny murmured beneath the covers as he turned over, trying to ignore the sound of the door opening regardless

"Danny, I'm so happy to see you home, why don't you give your old man a bit of lovin? You want something to eat, I'll bring it up"

"No Dad, I…just want to sleep" Danny said, even though he felt plenty rested.

"Come on son, buck up" Jack sat down on his son's bed and stroked his hair, hoping he would turn over and give him a smile. "Aren't you a bit happy to see me, I'm so glad to see you, and safe too"

"Dad, really I just want to rest right now, so…"

"But Danny" Jack pleaded, "Couldn't you at least give me a smile?"

Danny begrudgingly complied. He turned over, glaring at his Dad and showed his tears, still pouting.

"Oh Danny" Jack leaned down and gave his son a firm, a little too firm, of a bear hug. "I'm so sorry this all happened."

Danny wept as he returned the embrace "I'm sorry too" he whispered back "It's my fault." But in a voice that was inaudible to his Dad.

"Now Danny" Jack sadly stated as the two of them parted "I know that mother is" Jack coughed, trying to cover up his breakdown in composure "gone, but that doesn't mean life stops. If Mom was around, she would want us to carry on…so I'm taking you" He breathed heavily before completing the statement "to school. You won't be too late, school was delayed this morning till 9:30."

Danny felt his stomach drop and groaned


	10. Denial and conference

The coffee was hot, the kitchen quiet. Perfect.

Jazz sipped her drink and rubbed her eyes. She briefly worried about her hair, wondering whether it looked frazzled or not before realizing that Valerie Grey across the table was hardly the picture of freshness and there was no need to look presentable. Valerie herself looked more sinister, a dark look on her face, brooding heavily on some deep seated thought process that had her engaged her mind wholly, her steaming mug of coffee untouched.

They were acquaintances. Nothing more, and nothing less. Two girls in the same class that held two ends of the high school spectrum. Neither one was overtly popular but neither were without their followers. One was an athletic queen, the other an empress of the grade point average. Both had their rival achievements, their admirers, and in a regular setting, would have seen each other as a rival, challenging their dominance as the top of the class in terms of achievement. But under the situation, they saw each other with a new eye. They had a link. Both were well aware that their mothers had been long friends, and both were gone. The link was Danny, the one bridge that made both of them want to talk to each other more than almost any other person in the world.

Jazz cleared her throat and opened her small note pad, clicking her pen and writing '_MY BROTHER'S STORY' _on the top of the open page.

"Well Valerie, go ahead"

"Where was Danny yesterday afternoon?" Valerie asked, her eyes locked onto the patterned table cloth of the table as if trying to find a code hidden in the cross checkered plastic.

"Well" Jazz said as she wrote '_Danny-went to Axiom Labs on take your child to work day' _"It was take your child to wo…"

"I know that" Valerie interrupted, something her voice reminding Jazz of a agitated dog growling at her "and I'm guessing that your Dad made Danny come there."

Jazz nodded "You probably heard that Danny is…was still going to those events through the social grape vine, its rather embarrassing for him." Valerie gave a tiny snort of amusement. "I heard that you went till junior year" she stated, much to Jazz's chagrin

"None of your business, but anyway, apparently my mom had planned something, she told me the night before. Something about taking Danny to go and see her masterpiece"

"Masterpiece?" Valerie looked up and frowned "you know about it? About Operation Twilight?"

Jazz furrowed her eyebrows "So the rumor is true, you work…worked for Axiom Labs?"

"I was training for the head of the GIW SWAT Team and working with my Dad in the engineering department on experimental technology for ghost combat. Big secret" Valerie said sarcastically "I love how the social system at our school made it one, because it's not a secret, nobody asks that's all"

"I see" Jazz thoughtfully muttered as she jotted down the fact on the pad, impressed.

"So it's true about you Miss psychologist? Not going into your parents work?" Valerie retorted.

"Yeah, once again like you said, an unknown fact turned secret by the social pyramid and the A-lister people, but yes, I love studying how the brain works on a broad scale, in terms of psychology that is."

_So we're still even Steven score one for Jazz and one for Valerie _Jazz mentally noted. She didn't quite trust Valerie. She saw her often in the hallways and during senior events. Heck, she even had classes with her. Valerie was just one of those people you only occasionally acknowledge, and even more rarely interact with.

"But anyway, I don't know about any 'operation twilight' you're referring to Valerie, you know a lot more than I do considering you actually worked part time at Axiom Labs. What is Operation Twilight?" Jazz asked calmly and interested, back at Valerie, Perhaps there was something bizarre about Danny's case. Her mother was secretive about her work so this was news for her.

"Well" Valerie began, leaning onto the table "from the rumors, Operation Twilight was a project to build an inter-dimensional portal to a dimension of nothing but…zombies, ghosts?" Her apparent knowledge of the project faltered in her voice. "Whatever it was, it was top secret, hushity hush. Came directly from way up top, the head management of the Axiom Labs authorized it and your mom built it"

"Mom?" Jazz asked, realizing that whatever had happened to Danny, perhaps it wasn't as unrelated to Maddie after all.

"Yeah, and my Dad said that they were testing it yesterday before the explosion"

"but it doesn't make sense, the explosion originated in the medical wing. At least by what the TV said" Jazz felt a rising wall of confusion coming upon her. This was far stranger than she had anticipated

Valerie had no answer, and remained hushed as she looked into Jazz's eyes, waiting for her move

"Anyway" Jazz writing a bit more in her note book,_. _"Let's just go to where you come in, you witnessed the explosion didn't you?"

Valerie looked up; her aqua eyes and intense expression making Jazz nearly flinch while returning the stare. "It was scary, the building shaking and that terrible wail. Then Dad and I found ourselves on the floor and that the labs were falling apart around us. We got ourselves and whoever we could find out of there as soon as we could and went home. That's when we realized my Mom wasn't there."

"And then what?" Jazz inquired

"It's been hard on my Dad; he was making calls all night long, trying to contact the authorities about my Mom. And I…just went to bed. I assumed mom would come home" Valerie grew quieter, her voice drawing into a whisper.

"And then?" Jazz asked

"She never came; I woke up and realized that mom was never coming back from work. Not ever" Valerie looked down, hiding some deep emotion.

Jazz took pity, her own loss digging deep into her heart, but she had to keep the conversation rolling "So what about my brother?"

Valerie didn't look up, but simply kept her head staring at her hands. "I decided I would go and look for mother myself, and I was taking the old McPherson road on the outskirts of town. And then he came out of the woods"

"What?" Jazz asked in utter bewilderment

"Sounds like a horror film doesn't it?" Valerie gave a weak laugh. "But really, it was out of the blue. I was nearly back into Amity Park when at those hills just south of Casper High, on Enchanted Road, where I saw Danny in that ridiculous hospital gown, pale and looking like he was some sort of insane asylum escapee."

Jazz set down the pad of paper and pen, and looked at Valerie in disbelief. "You're joking!" she exclaimed

"No I am _not_" Valerie stated seriously. "I am not joking, because is exactly what I saw; your beloved brother marching out of the hills as if he were taking a hike. And that's why I brought him here. I would have taken him to the hospital, but who would of believed me when I told them that Danny was some teenager marching through the snow and cold in that dress, with no shoes? There is something really off about Danny, Jazz. People just don't move from Axiom Labs to the outskirts of Amity Park overnight and after an explosion, or wail that was supposed to kill them. There is something between Danny and the explosion and I want to know what."

Valerie was beginning to stand, the intense determination in her eyes. "I don't accuse your brother of causing anything, but there's something fishy about all this and I'm getting to the bottom of it."

Jazz stared at Valerie, her mind trying to believe the story. It was a fantastic story that was hard to believe, the fact that Danny had somehow moved from Axiom Labs to the outskirts of town; unscathed. She hardened her resolve "That's a hard story to believe Valerie, but me and Danny are going to have a long talk. If what you say is true, I've got a lot of questions for him."

"Good" Valerie said before glancing over at a clock above the doorway. "It's getting late, I still need to get to Axiom Labs and then help the cleanup crew look for my Mom, even if the authorities guarantee" Valerie paused, before resuming "she's dead, but this was of importance. So I got to run" She turned for the door, before giving a look behind her shoulder "I'm not done with you Jazz, you and I have a lot of talking to do, and your brother too. I'm keeping my promise; I'm not going to stop till I get to the bottom of this all"

Jazz felt intimidated. Something in Valerie's voice was deathly sincere, and Jazz could almost feel the determination within Valerie. She mentally told herself that Valerie was a force to be reckoned with. "I'll do that Valerie, Danny has a lot of answers to give"

"Good, I'll see you later, maybe at school"

"Oh school" Jazz groaned and placed her head on the table. "Why does it always complicate things?"

"See you" Valerie strode out the front door, her presence that had been looming over the kitchen left.

Jazz gave a sigh of relief. "Remind me never to make her mad" she sighed.

"It's your turn to talk Danny"

…..

…..

8:52. Still time. Time before school. Time to try to pretend to be normal. Impossible

Danny felt himself hyperventilating, panic gripping him. The cold sensation that had been previously in the back of his mind seemed to surge, demanding to be let out.

It was manifesting in his arm, tearing through his veins and touching every last of his cells. It didn't feel all that strange, it was just what was occurring that was alarming to Danny. Ethereal blue energy had overtaking the flesh on his hand and had transformed it into a shimmering outline of a hand that was like glass, completely transparent.

"This isn't happening" Danny watched as that blue outline of a hand went straight through the bed when he attempted to set it down "This is not real" Danny watched as the hand disappeared entirely, becoming invisible. "Argghhhh!" Danny attempted to grab his hand with his still visible left one, pleading in his mind for it to return to normal

"Danny" Jazz knocked on his bedroom door "Can I come in?"

"I'm busy!" Danny cried out as he prayed for his hand to return to normal. It only got worse, Danny couldn't touch his hand at all. Yet a feeling arose, of satisfaction somewhere deep within him. Something that seemed to whisper that, _this was natural_.

"Danny?" Jazz asked again

"GO Away!" Danny shouted back, trying to make his voice sound calm, yet the panic was audible even to his ears.

"Danny, what is going…on" Jazz entered, somewhat disconcerted by her brother's resistance to her coming in.

He glared at her, a scowl on his face, trying to broadcast his blatant displeasure that his sister had violated his wishes. It was also clear that he was nervous, his lips trembling a bit, eyes darting behind her, searching for any more threats. His hands were behind his back as he remained implacable to his sister's concerns.

"What'd want, can't you see I'm busy?" the edge in her brother's voice clawed its way through the concern she had for him. She knew better than make Danny hopping mad.

"I just talked to Valerie and she's concerned for you" Jazz tentavily spoke. "Now I'm very glad your home, but I am curious to how you got home at all. I mean, she told me that you came to the roadside on McPherson Road looking like a prison escapee, so understandably, I've got some questions"

Danny felt his heart skip a few beats, the fear creeping up his spine that she would find out. Find out that he was more or less responsible for the incident. That he was different. His emotions were becoming inexorably volatile and the sensation of that alien power was becoming restless. He struggled for control, silently praying Jazz would go away.

"Look, can we talk later? After school maybe? I got to get ready and…"

"Danny, we have at least 15 minutes, and I can drive, so no need to rush"

Danny began to back up, his spine touching the wall and slowly increasing the pressure. "Look, it's none of your concern; I'm safe so that should be the end of the matter"

"Danny, your hiding something from me, what? If something happened yesterday, I'll understand"

The simmering emotions within Danny turned into a boil, suddenly consolidated and directed, the energies within him surging. "NO! You wouldn't understand! And that's why you shouldn't ask! I'm fine! I'll talk to Dad and tell him, just not you!"

His voice rose and at the critical moment, changed. Jazz's heart rate increased dramatically when she heard something in Danny's voice change, becoming louder, and deeper in certain respects, seeming to manifest physically his emotions. He was hiding something big. Her curiosity became fervent and she pressed her verbal assault forward, wondering what would happen when Danny underwent duress, although a small voice in the back of her head began to warn against that, driven by some supernatural sense of the unknown. She gave no heed. It was her brother; the brother that she had lived with for nearly a decade and a half. He wasn't that scary. Right?

"Danny, it's obvious that something happened at Axiom Labs yesterday. Something that had to do with Mom, and you were with her. She's dead Danny! People don't die without reason! You must know something!"

"STOP!" Danny roared, hands clenching into fists. "STOP, I'LL TELL YOU WHEN I'M READY!"

The cells of his irises, the blue pigment gave way to a green energy that filled, slowly filtering through the organic matter and taking over, turning the irises a piercing and toxic green that was glowing.

"Danny?" Jazz's voice fell as her facial expression did a full 180, going from determined and agitated to fearful and mystified. "Something's wrong…"

"And for that matter Jazz, get out of my room! Ever heard of privacy! Just go away! I don't have anything to do with Mom's death! Nothing! Your just being nosy and rude." Danny shot up, standing. His voice was filling with that strange internal power, his eyes were literally turning aflame, the green within them near hypnotizing Jazz, yet at the same time striking to her soul, promising pain and suffering.

She said nothing as she leaped forward and grabbed Danny, throwing him onto the bed and pinning him down with her arms, a near instinctual act that shocked the two siblings. Jazz was unsure what had drove her to go offensive in the face of something horribly unnatural occurring to her brother, but was alarmed when Danny shrieked as he was thrown down, his eyes still burning with that horrible green. It was not an act of bravery, but rather an attempt to shake Danny away from whatever was happening to him.

For a second, their eyes were locked. Blue looking into ghostly green.

"GET OFF!" With a strength that surprised Jazz, she literally flew as her brother shot up, sending her to the floor and blasting her spine with pain.

Time seemed to slow. Jazz was on the floor, looking upwards in true terror as her slightly shorter brother stood over her, hands in tight fists, his teeth openly clenched, and his face aglow with an unnatural rage and horrible green light from his eyes.

Nothing happened. They stared. Jazz was in complete bewilderment and surprise, her mind trying to cope with the situation before her, unable to make a sound decision, while Danny felt like his mind was like a dam on the verge of busting, strange howls of anger coming from his chest, egging him on, and encouraging the violence. The suspense filled the air. He had the power. She was only human. He was something different. Superior, better, stron…

Like a squeezed balloon, Danny's mind shattered, the anger within him deflating and the uncalled rage draining. He collapsed, tears bursting from his eyes as a sob rose in his throat as he fell backward on to his bed. It was too much. How could he think like that? To look at his sister like that?

Jazz lay, mentally paralyzed. All her thoughts focused on were the uncontrolled sobs of Danny. Driven by a single thought of sisterly care, she dragged herself up, forcing her to look at her brother. He lay, crying, his eyes back to normal, incredibly human and vulnerable.

"I'm…sorry Jazz" He managed to gasp about between the sobs, turning over to hide his face.

"Danny?" Jazz asked without thinking. She knelt down to embrace him, her mind guided by the concern that now took over. The other thoughts came like a storm. Danny was clearly different. Disturbed, scarred by some event yesterday. He wasn't right in both body and mind. She knelt down, hoping to comfort him.

She heard the buzz, a soft hum ever so faintly. His midsection then began to glow before blinding white light exploded out... Her soul trembled, cowering back as some unearthly presence entered the room, in unison with the white light, which she could faintly see as two halos, expanded. This, for Jazz, was without precedent, as the unreal became horribly physical and alive.

She shielded her eyes and as brother transformed. She couldn't have anticipated, or imagined, what had happened to Danny the day previous. She could let her mind rush on, driven not by rational thought but by fear of what her brother had become.

…

…..

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: I felt like I was blathering on about nothing for no reason, but I called it a chapter. Two chapters really. Someone please tell me whether the quality improved or was degraded over the rest of the story please! I must apologize to my readers that the chapters are getting successively longer and I hope it's not driving any of you away. I know it's been two weeks between the last update so I'm sorry. Hope I made it up to you with a double update at the same time. (Although it really is one giant chapter) _

_HELP NEEDED: This entire story has been without a beta, which sounds wonderful right now. If any one of you is up for editing my story, please drop a review. The beta is mostly for grammar but for general inspection of the story line overall, since I know that I have a tendency to make plot holes, big ones. My criterion for the beta is that you return the new chapter within a week, any longer and the story will hit the archives despite the consequences. It can take me anywhere from 4 days minimum to 2 weeks max to write at least one chapter which is always from 4000 to 5000 words. Anybody interested? The story will not stop if no one is willing to do so. _

_REVIEW MARKER: REACHED 50! _

_Hip hip hooray and congratulations to __**Little Fox in the Stars **__for the 50__th__ review. I wish I could send you a prize of some sort. _

_To __**Elle Aitch**__: WOW! BIGGEST REVIEW I HAVE RECEIVED TO DATE. IN ALL OF MY STORIES! I was reading through my email and lost control of my jaw muscle after reading you review. After picking my jaw back up I had a little jig because your review was awesome! Thanks for your excellent and very professional sounding opinion. I will say that I feel that the story quality is progressively going down, I hope to reverse that. To __**Prophet of Greed: **__You certainly got a reputation sir…ma'am? (Sorry, can't be too careful, even if you do play hockey and play videogames) and it makes me feel important that you are a regular on reviewing my story. To __**Biisaiyowaq: **__Where did you get that profile name? It's got to have a story behind it. Anyway, THANK YOU for being so faithful! People like you make the world a better place. To __**Kiomori **__I must say that your reviews always cheer me up. If there were only a dozen more of you people on fanfiction, I tell you that so many good stories would not be left unfinished. To __**Silver tongue's Daughter: **__Thanks! Hope you drop a review around again. To __**Thisisgoodno: **__Maddie's death is among the key driving points in this plot to answer your question, and there will be plenty more of that sobby kind of emotions for chapters to come. _

_For those of you who want to see more Danny, don't worry, he'll be in the spot light plenty of the time later. See you in a week! (give or take several days) ___


	11. Chapter 11

_NOTE: Thoughts in italics, memories in italics, writing in bold, dialog is normal. Hope you understand _

The several black vehicles moved liked a pack of hungry predators through the Amity Park downtown, non-descript save that they were newer SUV's with the letters NPSA emblazoned on their front doors. Moving with caution but authority, pedestrians were quick to get out of their way, as Amity Park solemnly welcomed the out-of-town visitors, the cold high-rise commercial buildings of the downtown seeming to salute in military strictness as the black vehicles moved along, the entire cavalcade of them.

The downtown gave way to strip malls and run down businesses, before finally old and compact suburbs of small snow covered houses and frosted trees standing guard against the official intruders. Moving like jaguars on the prowl, the cars silently proceeded without stop till they arrived at their destination.

A more appropriate and logical explanation for the mess that was Axiom Labs was an earthquake. The buildings still standing were stripped of their exterior cladding with their windows long shattered, some buildings stripped to their frames, blackened skeletons of charred steel girders. In the center of it all, a large concrete dome, containing the ghost portal, remarkably intact and finally the giant pile of twisted rebar, steel and perished concrete of the now nonexistent medical wing that still smoked in some areas, tall plumes of wispy smolder that polluted the sunny but frigid morning sky.

A ring of police cars had quarantined the entire place, idle police officers standing watch, clearly bored and cold. A few fire trucks remained, most had left, but a few were still checking for any fires left over from the blaze the previous night. Replacing the emergency personal were workmen, dozens of them, wielding heavy cutting torches and circular saws, reinforced by massive cranes being rolled off semi flat-bed trucks marked "WIDE LOAD", their diesel engines roaring and growling, air brakes hissing and squeaking as the heavy equipment trundled into position.

The cleanup process was going full blast already, sparks flying and the cry of metal cutting metal as the pile of rubble was ruthlessly attacked, workers in hardhats clambering across the arduous and alien landscape of destruction and cutting up the largest objects with their torches and saws, then motioning for the cranes to lift the cut up pieces away into waiting dump trucks, while excavators and bulldozers were nibbling away at the fringes of the enormous pile.

Only some news crews continued to linger, mostly newspaper reporters, but a handful of Television teams were visible, lugging their unwieldy cameras on their shoulders. They saw the incoming cars and immediately began to wander their way, their uncanny sense of being able to find news like hounds on a scent kicking in.

The black cars cautiously made their way around the mess, before finally pulling to a stop in a cleared area of the site, wheels grinding across the freezing mud and sliding to a halt.

A new arrival moved in, much nosier and with far less caution as the black SUV's but with the same amount of authority. Two large, white sedans, just as non-descript as their black vehicle counterparts with only the letters GIW emblazoned on their doors, drove quickly and nimbly past the cleanup crews and pulled to a halt in front of the black SUV's.

However plain the cars seemed, they represented the finest and most advanced ghost combat forces in the United States. Men and women in black suits and ties exited the black SUV's, carrying a plethora of equipment on their sides from what looked like Geiger counters and laptops, tool boxes and exotic metal detectors, at their side. Leading them was Richard Kathos, an African American with a shaved head, matching sunglasses covering dark brown eyes, and business suit, a grim expression on his face as he surveyed the wreckage. He was leading the NPSA, the **N**ational **P**aranormal and **S**upernatural **A**dministration, an organization that was only a remnant of the CIA's various clandestine programs of the Cold War, but still a force to be reckoned with.

Out of the white Cars emerged several more bluntly dressed men, wearing more military looking clothing, one of them in a biohazard suit with complementing gas mask. Their equipment was more bizarre, consisting of specialized cameras, what looked like oversized Swiss army knives, drills and enormous syringe looking devices. Heading their group was the stocky and serious Tan Olso, with short cropped hair, worn and scratched sunglasses protecting grey eyes, and a grey suit that had seen better days. Even Olso had no idea where his name had come from, he wasn't even sure of his ethnicity, but to anyone who knew him, even his family, he was stuck with the name 'Mister O'. He was the proud manager of the famous **G**host **I**nvestigation and **W**eapons Team, Amity Park's own paramilitary force to stand watch against the supernatural dangers of Axiom Labs. Known far and wide for having a SWAT team that used the strangest of tactics to take down their foes, they were nevertheless, the only authority in America trained to go head to head with ghosts.

Richard and Olso crossed the distance between them, eyeing each other with an indescribable look, hidden behind their sunglasses. Behind them, their respective teams moved out, lugging their equipment with them and beginning a study of the rubble and destruction.

The men faced each other, glaring the other down.

They broke out into a hearty laugh and embraced with a masculine hug as they slapped each other across the back.

"Long time no see Agent O!" Richard chortled as he took off his sunglasses.

"Same to you Agent K" Olso chuckled as he did the same "still remember our old nicknames?"

"How could I forget? It's not as if we could forget the old college days right?" Richard, or Agent K jovially elbowed his comrade.

"What's with the names?" an inquisitive reporter asked, sidling up to the two men. She couldn't help but notice how complementary they seemed to each other, being roughly the same build, height and even facial features. She idly wondered whether they were somehow related.

Agent O and K scowled as they heard the question and turned to face the reporter "We were friends in college, and as such, we made up nicknames for each other" Agent O explained before sobering up. "But I'm expecting you have some other questions pertaining to" he motioned behind him towards the destruction "the explosion. So to stop an endless and annoying flow of questions without end…"

"We're not accepting such inquires at this time." Finished Agent K in an irritated tone. He cleared his voice, just as Agent O sniffed slightly. The wind shifted, bringing on the strong odor of diesel fumes. The news personal scattered around ground zero had began to wander around the two men, and now were attentively listening, much to the visible displeasure of the two men.

"So to that end, as you with the media know" Agent O began. "There is a press conference set up later this afternoon, so if you will, we have to prepare for that" Agent K finished.

The media personal shrugged, and only a few of the reporters barking out a question or two in vain, as the two men turned away in a huff, not at all happy to see the media. "Well Richard, let's get down to business, so enough with the happy greetings, I must tell you that the GIW is in something of a fix right now" Agent K said solemnly as the two men paced forward, arms behind their backs, unaware of their stalker behind them. "I awoke last night to my telephone ringing off the hook and the mayor furious at me.

"Better" the both of them stopped in front of a truck, both looking forwards, the atmosphere becoming tense. "And worse. Before I got on the plane here, I got a call from Secretary of State. He's not happy, and wants answers. Fast." Agent K's tone was blunt and to the point, clearing conveying that something or someone was going to pay for the disturbance of the peace.

"And that leads me to our assets."

Agent K suddenly swung around and grinned almost maliciously at his partner. "The Department of Homeland Security gave us a black check…and do you know what that means?"

Agent O smiled broadly, delight crossing his face and satisfaction on his lips. "Our chance" He breathed, his eyes locking with Agent K's, their faces matching in hope and excitement.

"Indeed" Agent K's voice was rich and oozed of nostalgia, slow and deep. "For years we have waited for our chance, but now…now I think we can revisit the old CIA days with relish. The Department of Homeland Security said that we have access to funds, the National Guard, and the ears of the Pentagon if necessary. It means a return to our former glory Olso, a return to what we once were…before the debacle."

Agent O scowled as the unpleasant remembrance bubbled up from areas of his mind that kept dark secrets. Darkness crossed his face.

_The CH-47 Chinook Helicopter thundered its way to the ground, dust and gravel flying far and wide, the scrawny plants of Afghanistan flapping wildly in the fierce wind of the two giant blades of the helicopter spinning hard. _

_The date was June 18__th__, 2003 as Richard Kathos pressed the receiver on his walkie-talkie. The static buzzed in before Tan Olso's deep voice cackled in. _

"_Come in Bureaucracy, come in Bureaucracy, this is the Corrupt Banker do you copy?" _

"_Alright Olso, Bureaucracy checking in, how's things at the field post?" _

"_Ready to go, you landed?" _

"_Roger that, squads D and F moving out"_

_Squad D and F, both of them composed of war hardened US rangers, their faces grim and tense, their arms and hands weighed down by heavy bullet proof vests and of course, the heavy automatic weapons in their hands, began to hustle forward as the whirring sound of the rear ramp opening, sounding to any man heading into enemy territory like the boom of a funeral bell, preceded the blinding light and dust that swirled in. Their boots clunked heavy on the metal floor as they left the safety of the helicopter. Agent K pulled on his trademark shades and moved out. _

_As a CIA agents, this was among their earliest missions. Agent O was coordinating the covert operation from a field post while Agent K was in the field to try to raid a large weapons catch of the enemy and secure one of its highest ranking members. Both of them didn't know what awaited them, but they wished they had never even suggested the mission. _

_The squads stormed out of the helicopter, lugging their packs and guns as they cleared the landing zone, Agent K among them, the sweat already beginning to flow from his forehead as the intense Afghanistan heat blasted the 25 or so soldiers. Back at base, Agent O sat back in his rolling chair and studied the formation of men on the satellite link move into position. His earpiece cackled with the sound of pounding boots and the holler of Agent K as he ordered the men to move up. The sound of helicopter also came through, increasing in volume as it lifted off, departing. _

_Weshiiiissh TCOoorckrrr! _

"_Agent K!" Agent O shouted, reverting over to his partner's nickname as the sound of gunfire erupted in his ear, followed by the sickening sound of a helicopter spinning out of control and crashing into the ground, analogous to a overcharged fan spinning till the blades sang in their rapid vibration before disintegrating. _

_Meanwhile, the desperate cries of his partner were nothing but a small buzz in his ear as Agent K lifted a hand to block his sight of the Chinook helicopter being struck by an enemy rocket, its back engine disintegrating in flame, bright, hungry fingers of burning fuel, before the entire machine began to spin, turning and turning like a giant sling, the hum of its engines turning into a high pitch as the helicopter vanished in a massive ball of shredded steel and exploding aviation fuel, bits and pieces of the helicopter taking off like small fireworks. _

_Agent K meanwhile was diving to the side as he saw in peripherals a concealed machine gun open fire and cut down two US soldiers, their bodies falling clumsily onto the hot ground, while bullets whizzed over them, slicing the air with the sound of mosquitoes on steroids. Agent K felt a blow to his chest, as though he had been punched hard, before collapsing behind a rock. _

_Looking down, the CIA agent watched in near fascination as, from a small hole in his uniform, the cloth was saturated with a red liquid. Raising his head in a daze, he watched three more American soldiers go down. His mind began to lose grip on reality as the pain set in, slow and agonizing. His vision dimmed like a cell phone screen losing power and the CIA agent fell limp as the squads of men around him returned fire, the air filled with the ripping noise of slugs. _

_Back at base, Agent O was filled with images of his Agent K's tombstone as he shouted for air support. _

"Let's not recall that day shall we Richard?" Agent O said darkly. "It doesn't matter, now that we have another chance"

"We can't forget that I nearly got killed that day, only surgery prevented my untimely death, and 10 others in that squad weren't so fortunate. Only your quick thinking saved us, and then what happened?" Agent K ground his teeth as was tempted to bellow his frustration, only halted with the thought in mind of being in the open. "WE were the ones blamed, WE were the ones upon which responsibility for the compromise of that operation was laid, when really we told them it was a CIA mole, and what do we get for months of work, working our way through the training program and then on that mission, plus getting shot? Demotion! Demotion of me to the NPSA and demotion of you to the cul-de-sac GIW, Demotion to two government subsidized or funded organizations where the government thought they could sweep us aside with a hand broom!"

Agent O mused on it, before putting a hand on his partner's shoulder. Agent K was breathing hard, working against instinct to calm down, the adrenaline of rage flowing through his veins. "Well…I don't suppose the CIA or the government ever imagined that the GIW and NPSA would become important, because now they are coming, crawling towards us and we have the chance, the opportunity to show the world just what we can do."

The two of them stared at each other, Agent O looking hopeful, Agent K with a blank look on his face. Agent K licked his lips and looked about, stared at the giant amount of wreckage and then looked back at his long time friend. His voice was gruff, but sincere.

"We will not stop, we will not cease our mission here to bring to justice whatever disturbed the peace of this city. Whether by accident or not, we have a real monster on our hands, one monster of a mission, one monster of an enemy, so shake my hand Olso, that we will not let up in our persistence or determination to find the culprit for this and take our rightful places in the government as heroes." He finished on a thundering note, and Agent O eagerly shook his hand.

"Let's catch a monster shall we?" they said in unison, bonded together by a single goal that they would not halt at nothing to achieve.

…..

…..

Said monster was staring, wild eyed at his sister, who was currently in a corner, her back pressed hard against the wall, hands up in a defensive position as the monster desperately tried to cope with the circumstances. Everything about the situation seemed to mock him, the way everything seemed to fog up, his vision obscured by strange mirages of colorful mist that centered around his sister, the way none of his senses were working right, the way he couldn't feel his lungs or heart functioning, the way he felt cold blasts of feeling rush to and fro across his skin, dancing across his nerves. Thoughts were racing unbidden from the depths of his mind, screaming and whispering, insinuating and ordering, wrestling for control. Thoughts of death, of dominance, thoughts that Danny had every right to go over and relieve his sister from the duty of living, thoughts that Danny should cleanse his territory of all competing spirits and living entities, humans included.

His psyche was like a reflection in water scattered by a splash, or a mirror shattered. A thundering clamor of voices within his brain, bombarded from every side by inhuman trains of thought and unknown senses.

He had frozen, unable to apply his thoughts to actually do something. Jazz simply stared in shock as she pressed harder against the wall, wishing that she was gone, away from the spot. She was staring at, where her brother had once been, a strange creature that was gazing at her, having appeared in a blinding flash of white light. Its appearance was fake, horribly unnatural and artificial, a form forced into the human plane of existence, not born into it. It wasn't so much gruesome or repulsive to look at as it was unnatural. There was something within her that said that the creature before her had no right to co-exist in the same dimension, and it struck to her core.

He…she thought it was a he, in the few scattered thoughts that still remained with her, she observed as being young, a humanoid being, with strange, wavering hair a ivory white that came almost all the way down into indescribable green eyes, stealing the attention away from the printed black and white scheme of the rest of his body.

"_Mom! Dad is so unfair to take me to work today, of all the days…when we have a snow day! I should be with Carla at her house right now, not messing around here, I mean, even Dad's coworkers took the day off, it snowed nearly a foot outside and Dad had to take me into work. Why?" _

"_Well" her mother laughed at loud at her 12 year old daughter who was most displeased to be in the empty Axiom Labs. "it was the scheduled day to bring your kid into work, so Dad thought it was your only chance to see this place" _

"_Yeah, just like last year, and the year before that, and for my entire life I have come here and done nothing all day!...where is Dad anyway, and why are you here, I never see you when I come" _

_Maddie sat down in the rolling chair, smiling as she pulled her lunchbox out and began to unpack. "Lunch break Jazz…I wouldn't pass up today to see you, besides, I don't have much work to do anyway, since most of my coworkers took a snow day" _

Danny was jolted to life as Jazz motioned to scream. "Jazz, no don't!" his voice hollowly echoed, reverberating and alarming what sane part of his mind remained.

"_How come you never come and see me, how come your always working in another part of the building mom?" Jazz huffed as she uninterestedly scribbled a pencil on a scrap piece of paper. The lunch room and kitchenette were silent, and even for Jazz, who was always finding something to do, was bored out of her mind, and she didn't mind a bit when Maddie began to lecture. _

"_Well you see Jazzy" _

_Jazz rolled her eyes at her mother's display of affection. _

"_I study ghosts" _

"_ooooh, big discovery there Mom, of course I know you work on ghosts!"_

_Her Mom laughed "Well aren't you the bit interested?" _

"_No" _

"_Ah well, since you don't have anything else to do, maybe you can learn a bit about ghosts anyway" _

Danny began to clamber off the bed, pleading silently for Jazz to do something, anything to indicate that she still knew him. His mind cleared as a base instinct to protect himself arose, and he focused, being able to speak clearly.

"Jazz, I know I look like a freak and I swear this only happened once before, but please don't look at me like that, you're scaring me. Please?"

"_You see Jazz, have you ever heard of heaven, hell and purgatory?" _

_Jazz nodded absently while her mother enthusiastically continued. "They're real Jazz, I know it. You see, when a person…well, kicks the bucket, their soul lives on. The soul is immortal Jazz, it always lives on. The body may decay but the soul is always there. Therefore, a soul must go somewhere after the grave, not to scare you, I know it's a heavy matter for a twelve year old girl, but you should learn. The soul can do 3 things; go to heaven, hell, or purgatory. What purgatory is, that's something we will never know, but for some souls, their life on earth was so tumultuous or ended so violently, that their purgatory is to remain on earth as a soul, drifting on." _

_Jazz began to pay a bit more attention as her mother lost touch with an actual conversation and began to delve into a more complex lecture. Her voice became loftier and Jazz became awed by her mother's utter fascination with the subject. _

"_Continuing Jazz, the drifting soul has moved onto another plane of existence. The physics of that dimension, the mechanisms of that alien world that drifting souls reside, those subjects are what have had me in fascination for the last few decades. The power that souls hold is unimaginable Jazz, and it reflects on what you can do in life. Just think Jazz, put all your mind energy and emotional energy forward as will power and you can do some amazing things. Now imagine all that energy on the physical plane, talk about raw energy." _

Jazz felt the memory of her mother stir within her and she bit her lip, hard as she began to slowly wrench her body up the wall into a standing position. The creature had addressed her by her nickname, and was now trying to pretend to be her brother. The mere ludicrousness of the chance that the creature…the ghost before her could be her brother was only a thought in the back of her brain, but it was motivating her to take a stand and face the alien, to face the monster, to try to clear away the emotion and size up the creature on a logical level.

"_Heaven and Hell are eternal, but a soul in Purgatory will move from there eventually. Whether that is millions of years or a matter of days is a question that science will probably never answer, but it is clear that all souls produce energy, power. It defies the law of the conservation of energy, but it is true. As time passes, most souls move on from Purgatory, like prisoners having done their time, some of that energy they produce is left behind. We can refine it as ectoplasm, which like all else we know about the field of ghosts, there is so much to learn." _

_Jazz was now listening intently, as her mother had lifted a hand to her chin and was looking away, her voice now a near internal thought. She was contemplating all of it, thinking about it. _

"_The ghosts that remain in purgatory can draw upon that residue energy and they evolve. Over time, like true evolution, strong and weak ghosts evolve. The weakest are the first to go, and the strongest live on. The older a ghost is, the more likely it is to be powerful and exclusive to that time period. It's a pyramid scheme, very few ghosts living past a certain amount of time. Theoretically, there is single, almost ageless ghost at the top of that pyramid scheme." _

"_Is the ghost zone purgatory?" Jazz asked. Maddie was surprised, not expecting Jazz to take interest. _

"_No. How did you hear about the ghost zone Jazz?" _

"_I'm not stupid Mom, I can hear you telling Dad about your stuff" _

_Maddie laughed and reached over to ruffle her daughter's flame red hair. "That's my girl Jazz, paying attention to details. Anyway, no, the ghost zone is a place for ghosts, souls, that do evolve and artificially live on past the time they can move on. Why they continue to live on like that is unknown, but we assume it has to do with the psychology of a ghost."_

Danny stared at his sister with pleading eyes, hoping that she would do something, anything to indicate she knew he existed, that he wasn't some inhuman monster. "Jazz, calm down, its me…Danny. I live here, you and I go to Casper High, I have locker 675, and you have locker LL1293 with a picture of Justin Beiber on the inside."

"_Psychology, of a ghost?" Jazz asked incredulously. "Ghosts can think?" _

"s-stop it. Y-you a-re not my b-brother" Jazz stuttered out, her heart racing, the sound of the creature's voice sending horrible shivers up her spine and racking her brain with waves of unnerved sensations. Worst of all was that Jazz could feel her soul; her soul seemed to be cowering in her chest, almost giving deference to the entity now standing before her.

"_Yes Jazz, it's assumed a ghost is tied to the ghost zone through an obsession over something. But that's all we really know."_

"_What's a ghost like up close Mom?" Jazz asked, now fully engaged in the conversation. _

She had seen pictures, but nothing had prepared Jazz for the real thing. The air around him seemed to bend, the way it does above a hot surface, bent by the heat and shimmering to make objects at distance seem distorted. At the surface, countess snaking lines of energies danced across its skin, barely visible but real all the same.

Danny couldn't care less about what he looked like. He cared more about just getting his sister to accept him again. "it's me Jazz! Don't do this 'I don't know you' business with me, please don't, look I'll explain everything just talk to me, please"

Jazz was emboldened by the creature's pleadings, no matter its apparent power, as it had no visible or implied intent to harm. She was now standing fully and they were face to face, only a few feet from each other. Though her soul was cowering away, her mind warning her against it, she extended her hand in a wobbly handshake.

They grasped, hands folding around each other. Danny felt a flood of strange emotions pour across the link his entire body being electrified by the touch, while Jazz gasped at the steel cold that the creature exuded, freezing her hand with its icy temperature.

Her vision went white for a moment and her soul did a flip flop before…

Her brother stood, once again, gasping before her, holding her hand, his grip intensifying till he collapsed. Jazz stumbled back as Danny fell into her arms, his heart literally making his chest throb. She felt hot tears running down his face, even though his expression was one of trauma.

Jazz felt her own body react accordingly, breath and heart rate rising to a peak before slowing down. Danny's room seemed uncomfortably small and dimly lit as the only sound came from brother and sister, panting and slumping to the floor, both of them emotionally drained from just a few minutes of turmoil.

"D-Danny" Jazz gasped "you have a story to tell me"

….

….

Maddie…the name was like a mountain among plains in his mind, a single all consuming consideration that was consuming him. How was he to carry on…without her? She had been bringing in the lion's share of the pay, doing the lion's share to the house work, of planning budgets, driving the car, making decisions…

The tears were on something of a biological faucet, turning on and off as his mind felt like a wild roller coaster, flipping from dismay to full blown despair from one second to the next. The kitchen was covered in her possessions, her smells, her attitude, her ability to lead and make him laugh. That freshly prepared fudge in the fridge, that small 'Mom's cooking rulz' trinket he had gotten for her during valentine's day one year, a hastily scribbled list of numbers and emails that she used when answering the phone, her work papers indicating projects on paranormal research stuffed in the corner, a half finished mug of her coffee sitting next to the sink.

Jack took a step forward before stumbling and letting out a heart filled sob as he absently put a hand on a yellow paint peeling cabinet to support him. How…how was she gone just like that? How was he going to live? What was the point, how was it even possible to live life without…

A sliver of white paper sticking out of a drawer attracted his attention. Jack pulled it open on a whim, not really realizing what he was doing, before sliding the wrinkled sheet in front of his watered eyes.

**March 5****th****, 1998 **

**Dear Jack **

**I suppose you are rather alarmed to know that I left for a business trip without really notifying you, but there is a report of a ghost hunt in Africa and I couldn't wait. Not even phone service around here, but I sent a letter. I'll be gone for almost a week, so I hope you get this before I get home.**

**As a scientist I have often denied the existence of unexplained miracles and belief in things that you must only believe and cannot prove, but last night I had a dream, in which we were separated. I cannot explain why, but I am compelled to say a word or two to you in the case that we are separated.**

**I have sought most closely and diligently, and often in my breast, for a wrong motive in thus hazarding the happiness of those I loved and I could not find one. My love of ghosts and the pursuit of knowledge often seems to trump my duty to home, but realize that my love for my family abounds like the waters of the sea. And above all, it goes with my soul, my immortal spiritual side that shall exist in God knows where I shall go when my earthly life ends, and therefore no matter where I am and what I am doing, or whatever time it is, you can consider that my thoughts and hopes go with you. **

**Jack, my love for you, like my dreams, prayers, thoughts and hopes, is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and therefore do not feel alone when I leave for long periods for my care, my thoughts are always with you, hand in hand, by your side. **

**The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, please forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have often been! Forgive me for the periods of conflict we have had. But remember me for the many times to goodness between us, the times when we sat together and enjoyed our company together, and the sharing of our family life. If it comes to the case, in which I must leave for a long period of time, you must carry on. I want to see our children grow and become a man and a woman we can boast of, and you must do this, you must carry the mantel of the family when I cannot, you must lift up our children and carry on. Make do, be strong, for I know you are. **

**Oh Jack, shall one day I leave this earth, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night—amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours—always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.**

**Jack, I am only considering what may happen, not what will, but know that whenever we are separated, by wall, by sea, or by dimension and death, do not mourn me gone but wait for me, for we shall meet again. **

**Make sure Danny brushes his teeth and that Jazz is enrolled for the writing club at the community center. **

**I will send more letters this week, this is just the first one. **

**Your loving wife**

**Maddie Fenton. **

Jack's resolve hardened. The tears didn't stop as he placed the letter, sent so long ago and forgotten beneath countless other scraps of coupons and receipts, tenderly in his pocket. "Kids!" Jack shouted. "We leave for school in 5 minutes."

Life would carry on, as Maddie was still there, maybe not in body but her legacy would be with all of them. For her sake…Jack would carry on as if life had not been interrupted.

Danny and Jazz stumbled down the stairs ready to go, backpacks resting on strained spines, but it was the faces that got Jack puzzled. Usually such an ebullient family was now so subdued…

Jack was silent, face without expression as he inspected Jazz, her red hair in twists and knots, not at all the ideal of the perfect student she usually was, eyes exposed, eyelids retracted back to their full extent to allow the eyes to stare at the world as if she was seeing the mirage of water in the desert. Her forehead was crinkled back, absolute shock across her face. Danny was the exact opposite, eyes averted, hidden beneath a tipped head and dark bangs of somewhat greasy hair, posture slouched and devastated.

Jack felt his resolve drain as if the plug had been pulled on the bathtub. But still, he stepped forward and grasped his children's shoulders and squeezed them lovingly. "Now Danny, Jazz, I know mother is gone for the present time and will probably not be returning for a while." Jack paused as he felt both children shudder beneath his meaty hands. "But that does not mean that she is not with us, and if she were here, she would want you to go to school, so chin up, keep your chests out and challenge the world like a Fenton does. We must be strong, so no more tears, only endurance and value of the life we currently live"

The kitchen seemed to brighten, the sun moved from beneath a cloud and streamed through the window with divine light, every corner illuminated a bit more, shadows fleeing. The aging stove with its electric filaments, the noisy fidge and chrome handles on the cabinets seemed to regain a wonderful shine and gleamed in hope.

Smiles went around, Jack wiping away the tears, Danny trying to hide his facial features while Jazz reached up to give her Dad a light peck on the check.

Jack went out, grabbing the car keys from a drawer and heading to the garage. Behind him, Danny and Jazz looked at each other with deep eyes and expressions.

"I will not believe, absolutely refuse to believe your story Danny, I will not admit to having faith that you caused the explosion yesterday and that something is seriously wrong with you"

"Whether you believe it or not Jazz, not a word to anyone, especially Dad."

Danny's eyes flashed that horrible green, sparks of other dimension energy flying in his icy blue irises as if to enforce his command. His sister shivered, her soul once again creeping away as Danny's own soul exuded a hint of the power locked beneath his skin.

Brother and sister nodded in understanding and headed off. A new era for the Fentons had begun, and Clockwork rubbed his hands in excitement as he continued to watch the unfolding drama.

"Unfortunately my dear halfa" Clockwork's voice dripped in complexity and mystery. "Inevitability cannot be denied. Soon you will be incorporated in a game much larger than you, and you must rise to the challenge. Good luck…you'll need every iota of it."

…..

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: So this is kinda late, but blood warning! Hope none of you threw up when Agent K got shot. _

_To any readers, if any, I sincerely apologize for you having to wait 3 weeks instead of the usual 2. School, excuses, homework up my wazu, creativity and heavy need to modify plus other pointless excuses are my reason but you can yell at me If you want. _

_CONGRADUALTIONS to Kiomori, for becoming my wonderful beta. __She's wonderful and wonderful then again. _

_On this chapter…ah it wasn't the best, but I earnestly hope it wasn't the worst. It wasn't that terrible was it? _

_Please review, just spend less than 30 seconds to press that button and say hi, and I'll write your name down here! _

_**Blood of Dawn **__thank you very much for stopping in, and yes that was my point, to try to write more realistically, no matter how over the top my story is. __**Silver tongue's daughter **__holy cow I realized how prolific and well read a author you were and I was jubilant. YES SOMEBODY COOL IS READING MY STORY! __**Samara **__thank you for seeing the emotion that I inject, I hope you enjoy. You get a virtual cookie for being a regular reader and reviewer! __**PROPHET OF GREED **__You always make me blush. A epic author reviewing me? Ah shucks...I'm bashful! Please stick with me, you are one of the reasons I get excited to write this. __**Kiomori is my beta so you all should be gaping at her glorious awesomeness. The Ice Cold Alchemist **__Welcome aboard, and thank you for at least considering being my beta. Amazing people like you make my __day __**Pterodactyl**__your review is in the top 3 best reviews I have received! Thanks for the tips and encouragement, I wish I could shoot it back straight at you. Yes, my grammar has oopsies, I'm sowwy. _

_For any of you who notice, the letter section at the end seems not my style. If you did notice, you have one heck of an eye because yes I did steal that. That letter from Maddie to Jack is a HEaviLY modified version of a letter from Sullivan Ballou to his wife during the Civil War. I fell in love with it and decided that I would take a bit of it just because it nearly made me cry. Read the original, it is very sad. _

_Next chapter…the great ghost hunt begins. Danny's in for it now!_


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